Possession
by ideal fairytale
Summary: 18OC80 At the risk of being shot by Reborn, the new student joins the Disciplinary Committee against her will. Though she never expected that she would be the slave of Hibari. "Hibari-san, why am I carrying your groceries?" "Quiet, herbivore. EDITING.
1. Meeting

_**I**_ _wanted to, more than anything, stay with him forever. _

**.**

**.**

**Possession**  
**Chapter 1: Meeting**

"Did you get lost, little girl?" The elderly, dowdy woman chortled merrily, eyes crinkling from beneath her lens as if thinking of a private joke.

Said "little girl" frowned. She had been trying to convince the office secretary for 10 minutes that she honestly wasn't 11. It_ wasn't_ working. The old woman was hard of hearing. The girl frowned and could feel that her throat was sore. Shouting in the ear of the secretary had done no good. She cleared her throat and then took out the student card from her previous school out of her pocket. If this didn't convince the woman that she honestly, truly, really wasn't a stinking 11 year old, nothing would.

"No, obaa-san", she pushed the card patiently onto the counter. "I'm a new student registering here."

The mostly-deaf woman hadn't heard her, but she did see the card. She squinted at the information, at the picture, at her and then back to the photo. The old woman jabbed a knobbly finger at the 15 printed clearly next to the word 'AGE'.

"Are you sure this isn't a mistake?" The woman's eyes narrowed accusingly at the girl standing in front of her.

"...I'm quite sure", the girl said evenly. Her voice barely masked her frustration.

* * *

Tsuna was in a tiny dilemma.

You'd think he'd be used to it by now; being continually abused by Reborn, being stalked by Reborn, being pulled into _astronomically_ big fights by Reborn, but he _wasn't_. No-good Tsuna could feel his grip slipping as he watched the havoc below him helplessly. He'd been shot by Reborn again with the Dying Will Bullet and had climbed up one of the sakura trees on the school grounds. Now he couldn't get down. The effects of the bullet had worn off and now he was stuck on one of the highest branches of the tree.

"HIII!" Tsuna squealed as Gokudera was knocked against the tree. The force of the impact was strong enough to shake the tree and Tsuna along with it.

Gokudera looked up at the shaking Tsuna.

"Juudaime! Are you all right?" His voice was filled with worry. Tsuna grimaced. He wanted to say, 'no he wasn't, he was piss-his-pants scared, so could Gokudera-kun please come up the freaking tree and save him?' He swallowed the words down. He knew Gokudera would be at a disadvantage if he wasn't focused on the fight.

"Hey..." Both boys turned to the direction of the voice.

Tsuna nearly fainted from the sight of the smirking Hibari Kyoya.

"If you don't put out the cigarette..." The disciplinary chairman held up his tonfas threateningly.

"...I'll bite you to death".

Gokudera scowled, cigarette in mouth, and whipped out his dynamite.

"Like hell I'm going to listen to you," Gokudera said contemptuously. Hibari's response was the slight narrowing of his eyes before he rushed towards the silver-haired boy. Gokudera dodged one of the tonfas only to be met with the other with a blow to his head. He was knocked back a few feet and his back slammed against the tree.

Tsuna shrieked again. Was it just him or was the tree beginning to _tilt_?

"B-bastard!" Gokudera spat out blood and rushed towards the waiting prefect. They exchanged a flurry of assaults. Being a mid-range attacker, Gokudera was at a disadvantage. He winced as Hibari's weapon landed a particularly hard blow to his stomach. Gokudera put a hand to his sore stomach.

_Goddamn prefect._

"Fuck you!" he screamed angrily and hurled several sticks of dynamite at Hibari. He heard a bored sigh from the prefect, who then batted away the sticks of dynamite with his tonfas. Gokudera barely had time to duck as a few were tossed back at him. Phew, well, that was a relief. Gokudera got up from his fetal position, smiling triumphantly at the coolly watching Hibari. The bastard had thought he could injure him with his own bombs? Well, he thought wrong.

...

It took Gokudera a whole five seconds to realize what stood behind him.

The Sakura tree.

The Sakura tree his beloved Juudaime was in.

Fuck.

A loud "BOOM!" ran throughout the school.

"HIIIII!"

"JUUDAIME!"

* * *

"Finally."

It had taken an hour to convince the secretary, but she was finally out of the Namimori main office. She gave a cursory glance at the papers in her hand. It was her official student record that she had to give to a club known as the Disciplinary Committee. Her mouth parted contemplatively. The club must be pretty important if it was allowed to handle such confidential things like the folder she had in her hand.

She smirked. "Perfect".

**BOOM!**

The explosion knocked her off her feet. It was strong enough to make her skid back, like she was on a smooth sheet of ice, before she fell with little grace on her butt. She lost her grip on her profile.

"Oww..." She rubbed her poor backside, meanwhile trying her earnest to get up and see what all the commotion was about. What the heck could have made her fall down like that? Her eyes opened to see something astounding in one way and absolutely terrifying in another.

_Eh?_ The girl stared in amazement at the burning sakura tree. The fire was slowly creeping up the trunk of the tree, making its way to the branches. Instinctively, her eyes followed its path. Her blood ran cold at the sight of something that made her bite her lip. There was a boy, tinier than her, dangling by his uniform collar from one of the higher limbs of the burning tree.

_That branch looks close to breaking..._ Her assumption was right. She winced at the sound of the loud snap as the branch broke of the trunk, sending the boy hurling towards the ground. No doubt he would, at _best_, break a few bones in his body from that height.

Her eyes widened. The only conscious thought in her head while she was running towards him was that she _had_ to save him. Watching something like that happen in front of her without trying to do anything would be the worst thing she could ever do. She could feel blood rushing to her ears, drowning out a loud _"HIII"_, when she dived for the boy.

She only _just_ managed to catch him.

The pair fell into a mess of tangled limbs. She firmly pushed the arm off her face as Tsuna groaned, her shoe smack dab on his nose.

She shot up, grimacing on his behalf when she heard his pained groan. He seemed to be half-awake as she crawled up to examine him. The loud groans were a sure give away that he was starting to wake up though.

"You okay?" Brown eyes alighted with worry as she looked at his wounds before softening with relief. At least his injuries didn't look serious. Most of his body had landed on top of her after all. But... The same couldn't be said for her.

_Ow..._ She rubbed the small of her back to feel the newly-formed bruise. She winced. The sad thing was that the bruise wasn't the worst of her injuries.

"J-Juudaime!" Brown eyes opened to find a silver-haired boy pulling his barely-conscious friend up. She stood up cautiously, but the movement was still enough to jostle her injured shoulder. Tch. A single brown eye cringed. She prayed that it wasn't too serious. Experimentally, she rotated her shoulder, oblivious to Reborn who was observing her with Leon-binoculars from one of his hiding places.

The baby smirked, already beginning to plot.

"Ow..." she breathed out, only mildly relieved her arm hadn't popped out of its socket. It still hurt like hell though so she couldn't say she was _too_ grateful.

"You..." a cold voice started. _Hm...? _She looked up through the stray strands of dark brown hair and found a dark-haired boy glaring at her. She managed to put two-and-two together of why he seemed so angry.

"Erm," she pointed to the flaming tree. "That _wasn't_ my fault." She realized either that wasn't the reason for his disdain or that he didn't believe her when he held up the weapons in his hands. She was flabbergasted to find it was neither.

"What is an unauthorized person doing on the school grounds?" He was slowly walking up towards her.

...

_...His priorities are a bit out of whack_, she thought mildly. _Burning tree or stranger on school grounds, hmm..._ Still she answered, annoyance creeping up in her voice. What a way to start her first unofficial day as a student.

"I'm not unauthorized," she replied courteously. The girl heard a sound to her side and saw the short boy was wheezing from breathing in the fumes. The taller boy was unhelpfully thumping him on the back.

"But," her gaze shifted nervously at the roaring flames engulfing the tree. "Don't you think you should be more worried about that tree over there?"

Hibari aimed one of his tonfas at her face.

"Ah!" The barely managed to dodge and fell ungracefully on her butt. Her mouth was set in a tight line as she recovered.

"G-guess not." She scuttled back. She didn't want to be maimed by the very, very violent boy. He honestly believed she was trespassing.

_Even though I'm __**honestly**__ not!_ she thought._  
_

"Anyone who comes into Namimori without permission..." She gulped. His eyes were filled with a light not entirely sane. She felt something under her hand. It was her student record. Her mind worked quickly to analyze the last few moments. This boy was most likely from that committee. That was the only reason she could come up with as to why he was angry. So that meant she needed proof that she wasn't trespassing. Her clammy hands quickly snatched the profile.

_It's all really a matter of speed now,_ she thought morosely as she watched him raise his weapon in the air.

"...will be bitten to death by me," he finished. Hibari's arm swung down in a wide arc at the foolish herbivore who dared to intrude into his school, his territory.

...

Hibari frowned. The girl was obstructing his vision with papers presented right into his face. He snatched them from her shaking hands and skimmed through them. She sighed in relief at the brief moment of reprieve. She got up and patted off the dust on her clothes as he read. She looked at his face to see him frowning not from anger, but from... He looked... disappointed? She crossed her arms as anger overrode fear.

_Sick sadistic bastard! _Hibari looked at the record and then at her. She stiffened. Had he read her thoughts?

"Looking a little young, aren't you?" he simply said and then turned off on his heel, her student record in hand.

Her cheeks burned.

_Dammit, dammit, dammit!_

* * *

She heard an authoritative squeaky voice call amongst the chaos. "Sakata Masami."

The girl, Masami, looked up long enough from inspecting her shoulder to see a small baby in front of her. "Oh..." What was proper etiquette when speaking with a talking baby? "Hello..." She settled for that, nice and safe. He walked up with a peculiar confidence in his step. Completely black eyes blinked up at her. She blinked back.

"Would you like to join the family?" He smirked. "Your bravery could be needed in the future."

_Eh...?_ Her response was interrupted by a loud shriek.

"Reborn!" The spiky-haired boy had finally gotten himself pulled together. He walked up to her and the tiny baby, the other boy following closely behind. For some reason or another, the silver-haired boy was glaring at her. She waved a small hello and flinched back when he growled.

"I told you not to try to recruit any more people into the mafia!" Tsuna exclaimed.

_Mafia... _

Masami could only watch in shock as the baby jumped to an impressive height to kick the boy in the face. The silver-haired boy seemed just as surprised. His cigarette dropped out of his mouth as his jaw dropped.

"No-good Tsuna, go thank Masami already." Reborn kicked the weak boy, Tsuna, in the stomach again, completely ignoring Tsuna's sentiments. "You've reached a new low by receiving help from such a tiny girl." Tsuna seemed to deflate from the height jab. Reborn was right. He'd been saved. _By a __**girl.**_ She felt pity.

"If it makes you feel better, I think I'm an inch taller than you," Masami offered. It didn't help at all. Like a wilting balloon, Tsuna only deflated more on his position on the ground. "EEK!" He shrieked as Reborn kicked the side of his head. Masami didn't know who to feel sad for: Tsuna who was on the ground crying or Reborn who truly seemed disappointed.

The girl shook her head. "It wasn't a problem." She grinned at the three pairs of eyes. Tsuna's eyes reflected gratefulness at the grinning girl.

"M-Masami-san." He looked down, manners from his mother dictating he use the polite '-san'. He was confused why he was embarrassed. She looked younger than him, barely 12. She was most likely a little sister of one of the Namimori students, so why the heck was he blushing? Her eyes... Maybe it was something about the light of the inquisitive doe-like eyes searching his face.

"Thank you for your help!" He bowed down humbly. He ignored Gokudera's outraged _"Juudaime!"_

Masami smiled. "It really was no problem at all," she promised them. Masami perked up upon hearing the bells of the school clock, signaling the next hour had begun. "I have to go," she said, holding her hands together in front of her apologetically. She was gone before anyone could say anything else.

"I wonder if we'll see her again..." Tsuna wondered out loud. He felt guilty that all he had managed was a simple thank you.

Gokudera snorted. "That woman..." He spit on the ground violently and began to light another cigarette. "She saved the Juudaime before me!"

Tsuna gaped. _I-is he complaining? _

"We will," Reborn assured. "She'll be an official student at this school tomorrow, after all."

Tsuna's jaw dropped. "EH? Really?" He looked at Masami's retreating figure. "She looks so young though... I thought she was at most 12," he admitted sheepishly. She was a little taller than him, but... even _he _had to admit he was kind of on the short side...

One blow to Tsuna's self-esteem: check.

Reborn didn't answer. The Arcobaleno stared at slowly disappearing girl. More specifically, at the shoulder injury.

"Wait." Gokudera looked at the Arcobaleno. "How did you know her name, Reborn-san?"

Reborn shrugged. "I have ears around this school," he said vaguely.

Tsuna's jaw dropped. "YOU WERE IN ONE OF YOUR HIDING PLACES AGAIN, WEREN'T YOU?"

* * *

Hibari gazed out of the windows of the Reception office. He had already gotten his members to deal with the burning tree and had specifically ordered them to toss out the useless vegetation once they put the fire out. Hibari spotted something. He narrowed his eyes at the ground below.

_That girl..._ Hibari watched disinterestedly as the figure walked towards the entrance. The weakling herbivore stopped suddenly. Hibari's eyes widened as she turned her head towards his direction. She chanced a secretive smile at the head prefect before dashing off.

Hibari gave a small smirk.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks a lot for reading and please review if you liked it. I would like to know what everyone thinks of the OC. (:


	2. Initiation

**A/N: Thanks for the alerts and favourites. A big thank you to Sheepoa for reviewing. :D**

Thanks to **Hitsugaya's GreenEyes** for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 2: Initiation**

"Where are you, Reception Room-san?" Masami sung out as she strolled down the hallways of Namimori Middle. Every so often, she glanced through the windows of the empty rooms she passed. Her steps became slower the more she walked.

"Why's this school so freaking huge?" Masami sighed, frustrated at her lack of success. Her lazy gait perked up when she saw a familiar spiky head up ahead. It was the boy she met yesterday. Tsuna was his name, if her memory served right. Masami looked at his back weirdly. For some reason, her cute little underclassman was kneeling down and was talking to the wall. She blinked.

_He did seem to be a little strange, but this..._ He was now screeching profanities at the wall. _This is on borderline crazy..._

Being extra careful to be quiet, she quietly sidled up to him and crouched down beside him and leaned in. She raised an eyebrow at the small opening in the wall and cocked her head to get a better view. Masami was shocked to see Reborn in the little opening of the wall. Reborn noticed her and smiled.

"Ciaossu Masami," the Arcobaleno greeted as he put down the cup he had been drinking tea from.

"Hello..." Masami said hesitantly, wondering how the baby had made a hideout in the wall. She frowned enviously. It looked like a really nice little room. Too bad it was so small or else she may have asked to go inside to take a look-see. Tsuna's eyes bulged out of his sockets as he finally noticed the girl.

"HIII!" Tsuna shrieked, surprised. Being the no-good fellow he was, the boy tripped backwards in surprise and somersaulted into the adjacent wall. Masami's eyes widened. Wasn't that an exaggerated reaction for someone to have when they were surprised?

"T-Tsunayoshi-san?" She ran up to him to help him up so that he wasn't standing on his head anymore. He gave a small nod in thanks.

"You okay?" she asked. She was starting to feel sorry for the guy. He always seemed to be getting hurt every time she saw him. Tsuna graciously accepted the hand Masami offered. She easily pulled him up.

"Yeah, thanks," Tsuna said, grinning sheepishly. Masami smiled warmly in return. Little taps made the pair turn their heads to see Reborn walking up to them.

Tsuna jumped back a few impressive feet away from the approaching baby.

_That's a bit weird_, she thought, wondering why he did that. She dismissed the thought when Reborn looked up to her with his bright beady eyes.

Reborn gave a small smile to the girl. "Are you looking for something, Masami? I would have thought you would be on the first floor where the other first years are," he said.

_Erm... _She knew she looked a bit young, but surely she didn't look like a first year, right?

"...I'm a second year," she said weakly.

"..." Reborn stared at her critically while Masami **honestly** tried to look older. His gaze relaxed.

"I thought first year was pushing it since you look 12," he admitted, ignoring her frown and glare. Reborn noticed. "Oh, you seem quite sensitive about it too, Masami. This won't make you feel better, but I'll tell you anyway. Usually girls have stopped growing at your age. Quite pitiful, looking like that at your age," Reborn said.

Tsuna gaped. He couldn't believe his home tutor had just said that. He was usually open with his feelings like that when he was testing someone to be in their family.

_...Waaait a minute. _

Tsuna's jaw dropped an impossible few inches more. _HOLD IT! __DON'T TELL ME HE STILL WANTS MASAMI-SAN IN THE FAMILY!_ Tsuna visibly flinched as he saw Masami trying to glare a hole through Reborn. A shiver overtook him as Reborn smirked. That smile, it was a very, very bad sign. That meant that Reborn was...

_**...plotting. **_

Tsuna resisted the urge to run for it and turned his attention back to the pair. Masami had stopped glaring, having realized the baby would just keep smirking at her. She turned away and looked down.

"I know," Masami finally muttered sadly. Tsuna gaped.

_SHE'S SAD NOW?_ the tenth Vongola thought, dismayed, when he noticed the small frown marring her childish features.

Tsuna gave a nervous laugh. He had to try to get rid of this awkward atmosphere. "S-so, Masami-san, what are you doing wandering around like this. Do you have after school activities or something?" The only reason _he_ was still at school was because Reborn had stolen his underwear _–not the ones he'd been wearing, ew–_ and put it somewhere, mysteriously saying that **everyone **would see it by tomorrow morning, including Kyoko-chan. As one could imagine, that was why Tsuna was still at school, freaking out, despite it being so late. To Tsuna's relief, Masami snapped out of the mood she was in and shook her head.

"No, it's rather... I'm looking for something." She pursed her lips and looked around to make sure no one was around. She leaned in closer to the pair. "Do either of you happen to know where the Reception Room is?" she inquired, looking between Reborn and Tsuna for an answer. There was a long, awkward silence.

Reborn was staring at her thoughtfully while Tsuna was trying not to foam at the mouth.

Masami shifted uncomfortably. "...Does that mean no?" She didn't want to go back to wandering aimlessly again. After three hours, the task was sort of starting to tucker her out. Masami tilted her head as Reborn sidled up to her. She restrained herself from jumping back when Reborn jumped up to an impressive height to land neatly on her shoulder. He pulled on her loose ponytail. Hard. In fact, it had enough force to make her start walking down the halls towards the Reception Room.

"Ow!" Reborn ignored Masami's cries. Then he remembered his shocked pupil and turned around. Tsuna jolted as Reborn smirked at him. "Tsuna. Don't follow us and go home." Leon turned into a gun. The safety went off with a click.

"...or I'll kill you."

"HIII!" Tsuna was terrified. He looked at his upperclassman's strained form and frowned. _But..._ The boy was anxious. Nothing good ever happened from Reborn's plans.

He had to at least _try _to stop it.

"Reborn! What are you planning to do? What if Masami gets hurt by Hibari-san?" Reborn stopped pulling on Masami's hair. She sighed in relief. Of course, that was closely followed by a gasp as she watched Reborn shooting Tsuna in the face. Tsuna promptly fell down in a heap.

"REBORN-SAN!" she exclaimed. He didn't kill Tsuna, right?

He shrugged. "Tranquilizer," he simply said. He ignored her inquisitive stare and began tugging her hair again. Masami cringed.

"Your hair's very nice," Reborn remarked.

She blushed. "Oh, thank-"

"Nice and long; perfect for pulling", he interjected.

Masami glared. "..." To prove his point, he pulled on it extra hard.

"OW!"

* * *

"Are you done?" Reborn asked patiently.

He didn't react at all when Masami paused from stroking her abused noggin to glare at him.

"No!" she answered vehemently. "You could have just led me here instead of pulling my hair," she said bitterly. It had really hurt. The baby was much stronger than how babies were supposed to be. Masami frowned and retied her dark brown hair into a low ponytail. It had loosened as a result of the baby's actions. Reborn tilted his head thoughtfully.

"But it was much more entertaining doing that," he said truthfully. He turned to the door, ignoring the livid expression on Masami's face.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded resolutely, albeit nervously. "Yes." She put her hand on the door.

"Wait," Reborn said. Masami looked down at him, curiously.

He blinked up at her with his beady eyes. "I'm saying this now: Hibari Kyoya doesn't forget a face. He's a merciless individual. There's no doubt in my mind he'll want you to pay for speaking out yesterday," Reborn warned.

Masami smiled sincerely at him. "Thank you for the warning, Reborn-san." Reborn noted that the girl didn't seem to be mad at him anymore.

Weird...

She put her hand on the knob. "Despite that, I still have to ask him something important." He glanced up from the brim of his hat to see Masami's hand already turning the knob. He smiled, impressed.

Masami opened the door...

...only to almost be struck in the face by flying stationery. She ducked down just in time and saw the pencil had lodged itself neatly in the wall where her face had been.

"EH?" Masami turned towards the source to find an irate-looking Hibari Kyoya glaring at him from behind a very nice wooden desk. She stood up immediately and frowned. Violent, wasn't he?

"What are you doing?" the boy asked distrustfully. Masami blinked and stood up carefully.

"I want to request something from you, Chairman-san," she replied cheerfully.

_...Eek...!_

The sharp edge of the next pencil cut her cheek and was embedded sturdily beside the other. Masami blinked and felt the cut on her cheek, wincing at the stinging sensation. She stepped back cautiously.

"Okaaay... so I see you don't want to talk..." Masami said slowly, _carefully._ She would prefer him not to hurl any more pencils at her. The girl looked at the cup of pencils on his desk, anxious. She waved her hands in front of her. "But this won't even take up 30 seconds of your time, I promise," she said, holding a hand to her heart, expression laughably serious. Masami took his silence as a signal to continue.

Masami smiled. "I was wondering if I could have access to the storage room," she said, referring to the large room in one of the older buildings that the Disciplinary Committee had control over. It was filled with files of information based on previous years such as student records, summaries of old events, etc... The room was rarely used except to dump more files into it once a year.

"No."

_..._

"Why not?" Masami retorted angrily. Hibari scowled as the girl stamped her shoe on _his _carpet. "I won't do anything to it! I just want to go look for something!" She crossed her arms and looked expectantly at Hibari. The prefect sighed. Hibari was tired and grumpier than usual. He hadn't gotten his afternoon nap. For the whole day, he'd been prowling the school grounds searching for some vandals. He found them rather easily. They had run_ towards_ Hibari and not _away_ from him when they saw him stomping towards them.

They wouldn't be going out of the hospital for a few weeks.

Masami noticed the pleased smirk on his face and misinterpreted. "Oh!" She perked up. "That means yes, doesn't it? I'd like to look in it right now then," she said happily, holding out her hand for the key.

Hibari's eyes narrowed. The herbivore was an idiot. That was the one thing he had summed up in their small conversation. She was grating on his weary nerves.

Enough.

He stood up and brandished his tonfas. Masami barely had time to gasp as one of the tonfas struck her. She winced as her back hit the wall.

"Ow..." she muttered slowly. _Maybe the jerk doesn't want to give me the key..._ The girl blinked up to see Hibari smirking down at her. She scowled hatefully towards him, wanting to wipe that disgusting smirk of his face.

"What are you doing?" she whispered. Hibari's response was to put more pressure on her collar bone. Masami squeaked as she was raised up a few inches by his lone hand.

_S-strong!_ She didn't weigh all that much, but to lift her so easily with one hand...

Masami breathed out a laugh. Hibari's eyes flickered with curiosity, beckoning her to speak, to tell him what was so funny. He didn't like it; the cocky look in her brown eyes that said that this small person, this tiny girl, was winning. She managed an unsteady smile, gesturing to the tonfas that were making the world spin from the lack of oxygen. They were preventing her from speaking. Hibari's eyes narrowed slightly. He reluctantly switched off the tonfas with a hand holding her up by her collar.

Masami cringed. Well, at least he wasn't choking her anymore. Although...

_This isn't much better_, she remarked inwardly, referring to Hibari, who was now holding the collar of her shirt. She noticed, with some anxiety, that some of the buttons had popped out of their confines, revealing some of her bare skin. She swallowed a huge gulp of air and pushed the nervousness down. Now was no time to be afraid about something as petty as that.

_On the plus side..._, she thought, relieved. _He seems to be pretty intent on only killing me instead of being perverted, hmm..._

Hold it. Was that even a good thing?_  
_

Hibari glared. "What's so funny, herbivore?" he hissed.

Masami smiled. "It's just that, your temper reminds me of someone, Hibari-san."

Hibari scowled. The herbivore was speaking in riddles. Disappointed at the lack of action, he unceremoniously let go off her. She slid down the wall and landed on her backside, groaning. He wasted no time and kicked her in the stomach, smirking at the pain on the her face as she doubled over. He raised one of his tonfas and swung down in a wide arc towards the wounded girl.

...

Hibari glared.

"...What are you doing?" In the nick of time, Reborn had stopped Hibari's attack by pulling Masami_–specifically her hair–_ to safety. 

_OW! _The girl clutched her hair, noting with some despair that Reborn had pulled a few strands from the roots. Reborn ignored the whimpering girl and turned to Hibari.

"I have a good feeling about this girl," Reborn said vaguely "Let her join the Disciplinary Committee, won't you, Hibari?"

The response was immediate. "No."

"How about a test then, Hibari?"

The prefect put his weapons to his sides. "A test," he repeated, his eyes shining with some concealed interest.

"I've noticed you still haven't taken care of the people crowding in the one of the buildings..." Reborn pointed out mildly. Hibari scowled. He'd been too busy with the vandals lately that he hadn't had enough time for such a petty matter. He was planning on taking care of those _idiots_ tomorrow.

"So what?" Hibari said. He wasn't following the baby's logic. What did those people who were crowding in his school have to do with this "test" he was speaking of?

Reborn smiled. "If Masami can take care of the delinquents in the building by getting them out, you'll let her join the Disciplinary Committee. Fair?" Hibari side-glanced at the girl and nearly scoffed. The girl was trying to put her hair back into her skull and was paying no attention to the conversation.

"No."

"Are you that afraid Masami will succeed and you'll have to let a girl into the committee?" Reborn asked, smiling. That did it. Hibari refused to be called a coward.

Masami's ears perked up upon hearing her name. _What...?_ She turned with large brown eyes to the pair, wondering what they were talking about.

Hibari scowled at Reborn's provocation. "Fine," he said tersely and busied himself with stowing his tonfas back into his jacket as Reborn faced the confused Masami and smirked.

* * *

After Masami found out that Reborn had forced her into a stupid, impossible test, she opted for wandering around the empty school grounds in a sleepy daze instead of doing anything productive. Needless to say, the girl was mortified with the idea of doing what their test entailed, but then, she didn't really have a choice when Reborn pointed a gun at her saying he'd kill her before she could open her mouth to say no.

Masami ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "What am I going to do?" she asked herself despondently. She wracked her brains and then realized she had absolutely no clue on what to do to pass this test. Normally, she wouldn't care about passing such a ridiculous initiation (_because I hadn't even wanted to join!_), but Reborn had added to his _"I'll kill you if you say no,_" with a _"I'll kill you if you don't pass, Masami."_

_Yeah. So. _That was why she was in such a state.

Masami lazily glanced around. She noticed she was beside a well-kept baseball field. She had been so preoccupied with how not to get killed that she hadn't even noted where she was walking to. Masami squinted and saw balls strewn all over the field with one of those batting machine gizmos on the pitcher's mound. The strange thing was that no one was there.

_Hmm... that's weird._ Just to sate her curiosity, she was about to open the fence doors, but was stopped by a hand that clamped over her shoulder.

"AH!" Masami automatically stretched her hand out to defend via punching. Her eyes widened as the stranger caught her hand. She looked up to face the sheepish expression of a boy.

"Sorry!" He relinquished her hand. The girl clutched it protectively. His grip hadn't hurt, but still, the familiar sensations were tickling her hand now. She frowned, brows furrowed, and looked at her feet thoughtfully.

The boy laughed and Masami looked up to see him grinning at her.

"Sorry, sorry," he repeated happily. "It's just that it's surprising to see someone on the school grounds so late. It's already 6." He gestured to the large clock on one of the buildings and, indeed, it was 6. Masami reluctantly put her arms to her sides, ignoring the prickly sensation where the boy had grabbed her.

Masami shook her head ruefully. "You don't need to apologize." Guilt hit her. She felt bad for almost smacking him across the face. "I'm just a little rattled..." His handsome features were suddenly marred with concern.

"You can tell me. I'll try to help," he offered merrily. Masami flushed at his worry on _her_ behalf. She wasn't used to it. The boy opened the fence doors with a key and waved her in. Masami noticed the boy was wearing a baseball uniform. He sat her down on the bench near the mess of balls and began picking them up.

"So tell me about what's bothering you," he said, picking up balls and tossing them with impressive precision into a basket near her feet.

Masami bit my lip, pondering if she should share her present problem with the boy. He did seem nice enough. Maybe he could give her ideas on what to do. With some surprise, she realized neither of them had even said their names. Masami smiled at him when he looked up.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I'm Sakata Masami, second year. Just transferred to Namimori today."

He returned her smile with his own cheery grin. "Haha. Yamamoto Takeshi, first year." She saw that he was only done picking up half the balls and got up to help him.

Yamamoto nodded at her gratefully. "Thanks. Practice finished an hour ago, but I had wanted to practice more. I got a little carried away..." he said.

Masami shook her head. "No. It's good to be really passionate about something. I admire people like you," she said truthfully. She was too busy putting in balls to see Yamamoto's expression and slightly red cheeks. He looked down awkwardly.

"...Heh, so what's the problem?"

"All right then. Here goes..." Masami explained it to him from the very start, to when she came to school yesterday to why she was walking around the school aimlessly. She was intrigued (and confused) by the way his eyes widened when Hibari's name was mentioned and wondered whether it was a normal reaction among the students. He laughed when Reborn's name was brought forth and dismissed the whole thing as a game the baby like to play called Mafia. She didn't comment on this.

Her being beat up didn't seem like such a fun game.

Yamamoto opened his mouth to say something after Masami was done her long tale, only to be interrupted by the school bell. An instrumental version of the anthem had begun. Near the end of the anthem, Yamamoto put his lips to the ball in his hand before smiling down at it and then at her. Masami smiled too, caught up in the moment. The guy seemed like a really nice person and a real baseball lover too. _How admirable..._ Her eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. 

_The anthem...!_

"Yamamoto-kun! Does the anthem play around the school using a PA system?" An idea was forming in her mind rapidly. _It __**could**_ _work._

He blinked, noticing her urgency. "Yep," he said. Masami couldn't suppress the grin that made its way to her face. She looked in his eyes, a glint in her own.

"Would you be willing to help me with something?" she asked pleasantly, in brighter spirits now.

Yamamoto nodded, but then gave Masami a mischievous grin. "Only if you help me pick up the rest of these balls."

She smiled warmly. "Deal."

* * *

Hibari's eyes shot open upon hearing the familiar feminine voice over the PA system. He frowned, listening for it again. Sure enough, the voice rang through the air, made louder by bouncing off the buildings and onto his sleeping roof.

"I repeat, there is a poisonous gas leak in building C. All people in the building please evacuate quickly. You'll die in a minute if you stay in there any longer," the voice said pleasantly. Hibari scowled and walked over to the edge of the roof. Herbivores with an excessive amount of dress code violations ran out the building, tripping over their fellow delinquents before they "died."

Furious, Hibari smashed his tonfas on the fence and stomped down the stairs, creating a huge indent in the sturdy metal.

There was an annoying female to deal with.

* * *

"Good job, Masami," Reborn remarked as she and Yamamoto wrapped CAUTION tape around the entrance of the building. Just minutes before, delinquents were exiting the building frantically.

She hadn't actually thought it'd work this well. The whole thing did seem pretty unbelievable. On the other hand, for students who skipped whole days of class, Masami could only imagine how stupid they were. Masami shrugged modestly, while feeling secretly pleased about Reborn's compliment. He didn't seem like the type to hand them out so often. "Yamamoto-kun helped me a lot. If he hadn't shown me where the PA system was, I wouldn't have finished so quickly."

"It's no problem, Masami." Yamamoto laughed, albeit a bit nervously. He cautiously glanced at Hibari's favourite sleeping roof. "You think Hibari will come down to see what's all the commotion about?"

Reborn nodded. "We're hoping he does." The baby ignored Yamamoto's confused look and turned to look behind them. "In fact, he's standing there right now."

Masami flinched. _What! It's too soon. We're not even done with the tape._

She and Yamamoto turned to see Hibari glaring right at them. She gulped. He looked furious,_ that_ being an understatement. Masami stifled a squeak as his eyes landed upon her and narrowed. That wasn't very good, was it? She wracked her mind, wondering why he was so pissed off.

"Unauthorized students are not allowed to use the PA system."

Yamamoto chuckled nervously. "Now, now, Hibari. Masami did you a favour by doing all of this. The least you could do is thank her, right?" he said, grinning. Hibari's eyes narrowed.

"...The herbivore broke the rules." He raised up his tonfas. "You along with her will be bitten to death." Yamamoto gave a wavering smile and stepped back cautiously as Hibari approached them. Masami was dumbfounded. Utterly shocked.

"SERIOUSLY?" Hibari raised an eyebrow at the volume of the girl's voice and Yamamoto looked at her with an _"Eh?"_ expression. _Is he dumb?_ She pointed at the (stupid) boy accusingly. First the sakura tree incident yesterday and now this.

"The buildings cleared out of students and that's **all** you have to say? What's wrong with your priorities, man!"

"That's no excuse for breaking the rules," Hibari said coldly.

"Then you're an idiot," Masami replied. The prefect didn't seem to appreciate being called an idiot. The next second, the girl found herself slammed against the brick wall behind her. He ignored the shouts from Yamamoto and glared at Masami. She grimaced. _He sure has a thing with walls and slamming people against it._

_Hmph. _Brown eyes clashed with liquid metal.

"You're really uptight," Masami observed mildly, glaring at his own piercing eyes. Hibari scowled for a moment and released her. Her eyes widened. She already knew his next move. He would most definitely try to hit her again in the same spot, her stomach. Masami resisted to clutch her bruised stomach that was now aching from all the strenuous movement.

It was flight or fight for Masami within that short millisecond. Since flight was out with the prefect boxing her in, she knew she had to defend herself somehow. She _really_ didn't want to get hurt again. Desperate, Masami pushed herself off the wall and miraculously avoided getting hit by crashing into him.

The force of the momentum was _just _enough to push against his own heavier weight.

They both landed in a clumsy pile of limbs as the brown-haired girl crashed herself into Hibari. Her eyes were screwed tight from the pain as she rubbed her forehead. It had landed smack dab against the packed earth. She winced, already feeling the bruise forming. Surprisingly, the rest of her body was in relatively good shape. She had landed on something soft and it had cushioned her fall.

_Soft? _Masami thought, eyes snapping open to see what she had expected and had not looked forward to seeing. She had landed on _Hibari_, straddling him as he lay beneath her. She blushed, embarrassed, when she realized his belt buckle was digging into her bottom.

"ACK!" Masami stumbled back clumsily, tripping again. Hibari had stood up and was looking down at Masami coldly. She thought he was going to hit her again and braced herself, shutting her eyes tightly. She listened carefully and was surprised to hear no swooshing from the tonfas that were going to smack her to kingdom-come. The girl tentatively opened one eye and saw that he was walking away, black jacket blowing with the breeze gracefully.

Incredulity. That was what she felt.

_Why did he just walk away like that?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a pair of strong, callused hands grabbing her arms and pulling her up. Yamamoto's grinning face was looking down at her.

"Ahahaha, that was quite lucky that Hibari didn't hurt you," he said happily to her, patting her head. Masami grimaced. _I don't think "luck" is the right word for __**that**__..._ She looked behind her to see that Hibari was already gone. She heard a whoosh of air and turned back just in time to catch Reborn in her skinny arms. He smiled up at her.

"Good job, Masami," the baby said in his usual squeaky voice. "You're in the Disciplinary Committee now."

"Eh? Is that what all this about, kid?" Yamamoto asked. He turned to Masami. "You wanted to join the Disciplinary Committee, Masami...?" He laughed nervously, but she didn't notice at all.

_I did...? _Masami was still fixated on what happened moments before with her and the head prefect. She looked intensely at the green lizard thing on Reborn's fedora hat, eyes unfocused.

Her joining that horrible club. Her having to interact with that horrible president. Her having to _awkwardly_ interact with that horrible president after that horrible incident of her sitting on him.

...

"WRONG! TOTALLY WRONG!" Masami denied loudly and vehemently at the top of her lungs.

Yamamoto jumped at the uncharacteristically loud voice that came from his senpai. Hibari heard it, but chose to ignore whatever the girl was spewing out, instead opting to gaze disinterestedly at his beloved school from the Reception Room window.

Reborn smiled his little Reborn smile, like always.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading. A review would be much appreciated just to tell me what you thought of this chapter. I'll try to make updates regularly; haven't decided how regular.

**Next Chapter: Coward**


	3. Coward

**A/N: **Thanks a lot to **A-Prayer-4-da-Damned****,**** midnight(.)wolf62****, ****DarkRoadHina****, ****ausumist****, ****Sheepoa** for reviewing. Your reviews further fuel my desire to write, so thank you. :D

Mucho thanks to **Hitsugaya's GreenEyes** for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 3: Coward**

Kusakabe Tetsuya prided himself on being the vice-chairman of the most powerful group of Namimori, the Disciplinary Committee. It was an astonishing feat to become second-in-command of the committee. For him to earn the trust and confidence of Hibari Kyoya was Kusakabe's personal greatest accomplishment.

Yet... Kusakabe frowned.

He had neglected to know that they were accepting new members into the committee. Applications were always closed so late in the year. Not only that, but he knew the committee was already at full-capacity. In fact, many of the members were more liabilities than assets because there hadn't been much of a need to establish discipline in the school. Most of the students had been on their best behaviour for the last few months. The only exception would be Sawada Tsunayoshi and his friends who were the regular troublemakers, but the chairman would always deal with that group personally. Kusakabe had no idea why they were accepting new members if there was no need. Not only that, but...

He eyed the newest member from the corner of his eye. The newest member was a _girl._ One couldn't believe how shocked Kusakabe was when the chairman mentioned they were accepting a _girl_ into the committee a mere hour ago. Kusakbe nearly had a heart attack from shock. When he and the chairman had both begun attending Namimori Middle, he'd been specifically instructed not to recruit _any_ female members or else he would be bitten to death. Hibari claimed girls were weak and would only be a hindrance to the committee if any were recruited.

But just to make sure (again), Kusakabe blinked and rubbed his eyes. Yes, the person sitting on the chair was definitely a girl. A very baby-faced girl. If the vice-chairman wasn't responsible for memorizing all the students' names, then he knew he would have mistaken her for a student in the elementary division. Sakata Masami, wasn't it?

Anyway, Kusakabe didn't think elementary students had the capability to exude such murderous waves. At first, he had thought the murderous waves were coming from the chairman, but that didn't make any sense because Hibari was _happy_. So happy in fact that he'd been smirking (mockingly) at the transfer student when she entered the room. It made Kusakabe wonder what happened between them. It was also peculiar how she was glaring at him instead of cowering in fear. _That_ would be the **normal** reaction from **normal **people. He suppressed a sigh. On the other hand, the girl couldn't have been normal if she had managed to get into their (previously) male-only committee.

Kusakabe gave a little start from the break in the stifling silence.

"Kusakabe Tetsuya. Explain," Hibari commanded quietly. The prefect nodded, knowing exactly what his boss was talking about. Years of being under the chairman's command had made Kusakabe sensitive to what Hibari wanted even when he used little words. The vice-chairman turned to the transferee. She noticed his movement and stared back. 

_Well, that's reassuring. I think._ She wasn't glaring at the very least though Kusakabe couldn't say she was looking at him very fondly. _Her hating the chairman means distrust for the vice-chairman, I guess._

Kusakabe coughed into his hand. "Sakata Masami-san, all new members start off small. You'll be in charge of filing papers, taking in and reporting complaints to me or Kyoya-san from students and creating reports to hand in to the head office of our actions," the boy explained professionally. She blinked at him with owlish brown eyes and then looked away, frowning.

"So... basically, I'm a secretary..."

_Erm... _"...If you'd like to refer to your duties like that, then you may," Kusakabe replied stiffly because that's exactly what it was. The chairman had specifically assigned her those duties because of her gender. He waited for her to say more, but Masami didn't.

Kusakabe smiled at her. "Welcome to the Disciplinary Committee, Masami-san." He held out his hand for her to shake. She looked at Kusakabe and then at the hand.

The girl smiled reluctantly. "A pleasure, Kusakabe-san," she said pleasantly.

Kusakabe relaxed a bit. It seemed like she was beginning to trust him.

"You may leave."

Instinctively, Kusakabe turned to Hibari, who had spoken. His eyes widened. The chairman was looking directly at _him_. His nonchalant gaze became sharp when the other prefect didn't high-tail it out of the room immediately. Kusakabe resisted the urge to jump (He was still being professional) and straightened up to leave, but not before seeing the amused expression playing across Hibari's face that was directed to the girl.

Kusakabe gulped, anxious for the well-being of Sakata Masami.

...

Masami's eyes drifted to the door as Kusakabe Tetsuya left, suspicious. Why would Hibari send his second-in-command out like that? She instantly concluded that whatever he was going to say to her would not involve any of this dreadful club's activities if he had commanded Kusakabe to leave. _And then_ Masami concluded that whatever he would say, she wouldn't really like...

"...Sakata Masami," his deep tenor voice rung out and reached Masami's ears. She turned back to face him and her eyes narrowed. He was smirking for some reason. Was that his, _"I'm going to attack you!" face?_ Her body stiffened, already prepared in case he attacked. One couldn't be too sure if the guy needed to be provoked or not, after all. She was on her last nerves as he stood up and she honestly thought he was going to pounce on her to bash her up good with his stupid weapons, but instead, he turned toward the window, back facing the girl. Masami stuck out her tongue childishly at the asshole and his arrogance. He swung back around. It caught her off guard and she bit her tongue.

_OWW! _She had bit on it _hard._

"Why do you want access into the storage room, herbivore?"

Tears spurted out from Masami's eyes. "Wvhy? Thun't wanna thell thu," she answered, reddened tongue flapping. His cold eyes sharpened in her direction. Masami was beyond caring about how he was feeling, too distracted by her wounded appendage. In fact, she didn't notice him walking up to her until he was gracefully looming above her in the most arrogant manner she had ever had the displeasure of feeling. His self-confidence annoyed her. His arrogance annoyed her. His stupid steel grey eyes annoyed her. Masami glared at Hibari feet. He _wasn't _moving. Guh. She pursed her lips and sighed resignedly and looked up, dark brown clashing with grey.

Masami managed a tight smile to the head-prefect. "Yes, Hibari-san?" She knew he could tell her tone was stiff and annoyed. She normally wasn't this rude (even though he was a _total_ jerk), but...

...for some reason, the guy really pissed her off.

Hibari stared at Masami for a moment longer. Oh... that smirk that appeared on his face couldn't be good.

"Herbivore, you know it can't be that easy, right?" he asked softly.

Masami caught on quick. "...What do I have to do?"

If it was possible, his smirk grew even more malignant. Anxiety was welling up in her.

Hibari's leaned his face towards Masami's and she unconsciously jerked back until her back hit the couch. An unnecessary and dramatic reaction, but she couldn't help it.

Ugh. Too close. _Way too close...!_

Hibari must have noticed the close proximity too, for a second later he stood straight up again, a perturbed expression marring his handsome features. Masami's eyes widened. _What am I thinking? _Handsome? Hibari? _I meant creepy. Definitely creepy!_

Masami heard him make his way to the door. She continued to look at her hands on her lap, scrunched up in her lap. She didn't dare turn around and look back.

A soft whisper, barely audible, seemed to echo.

"Impress me."

The door shut with a clack and Masami let out the breath she'd been holding in.

"Impress him..." the girl repeated and then frowned, "How am I supposed to do that?"

* * *

Slave driver.

Hibari Kyoya was a slave driver.

_Those are the perfect words to describe him!_, Masami thought grumpily as she marched down the hall, a foot high stack of papers in her grasp. She found out soon after entering the club that being a big club meant having _a lot _of paper work. Hibari didn't give any breaks to her because he thought the job was _easier_ than what the other DC members were doing. Inwardly, she was thinking the opposite.

_What all_ _the others have to do is_ _walk around and flash their darn armbands around and beat up people, stupid Hibari! _Masami had the tedious task of taking care of the paper work. How she would kill to do what the regular members were doing. Well, more so the strutting around pompously than beating people up. She would let the _macho_ men with their funny haircuts handle that.

Masami was too preoccupied in her thoughts to look where she was going. That and the tall stack of papers were obscuring her vision. So it's no wonder that she would crash into someone.

Her luck was that great.

The collision was spectacular. The impact wasn't strong enough to make Masami fall on her back side, but her strained grip on the stack had loosened so much that the girl dropped the entire thing in surprise. She could only watch in despair as the papers fluttered in the air before gracefully floating to the ground. Masami facepalmed. They had been organized. Now they weren't. That meant another two hours of organizing again.

Sighing wearily, Masami looked at the source of her misfortunes and her eyes widened.

"Tsunayoshi-kun?" she said, shocked. Although she hadn't fallen, the same could not be said for Tsuna, who had not only fallen, but had also flown back a few feet. Seriously, Masami knew that she was a bit taller and therefore maybe a bit stronger than him, but the distance was sort of pitiful.

Tsuna righted himself immediately after he heard her voice. She blinked as he looked at her and then the mess of papers around him. He stood up quickly and had on that familiar panicked expression Masami had grown accustomed to him having on.

"HIII! Sorry, Masami-san!" He bowed and bowed and bowed apologetically. "I wasn't looking where I was going and ahh! What am I saying! Of course you know that I wasn't looking because why would I run into you on purpose? Not that I did run into you on purpose, but still! I'm sorry, so sorry. Forgive-"

Masami raised an eyebrow. "It's fine, Tsunayoshi-kun. More importantly, are you okay?" she asked. She could tell he really was sorry and now that I thought of it, two hours at school really didn't matter in the end. It wasn't as if she would be late for anything.

Tsuna nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I'm good!" he looked around them worriedly and turned to Masami with his puppy dog eyes.

Masami shrank back. _Cuteness...burning..._

"I really am sorry, Masami-san," he said sincerely. Tsuna perked up, an idea in his head. "Would you like help-?"

"JUUDAIME!" and "Tsuna!" made their way to the pair's ears. Masami and Tsuna turned to see Gokudera and Yamamoto running towards them. They stopped and were both asking Tsuna if he was okay. She briefly contemplated whether or not she should scold them for running in the hallways, but then banished the thought. It didn't really matter, did it? There was hardly anyone in the school, so she didn't think them running was too bad.

If only Hibari could see her now, enforcing the rules.

Masami blinked nervously as Gokudera swerved his head in her direction and marched up to her. He pointed a finger at the girl's nose.

"YOU!" he screamed. Masami stepped back. _Eh?_ "How dare you knock the Juudaime down!"

Tsuna put himself in front of me. "HIII! It's not like that, Gokudera-kun! **I** was the one who bumped into Masami-san!"

Gokudera spluttered indignantly. "Then she should have gone _around_ you so you wouldn't bump into her, Juudaime!"

The other three looked at him and silence fell.

His brows furrowed, his face flushed. "W-What!"

Yamamoto scratched the back of his hand. "Anyway, haha. Masami. What are you up to?"

Masami simply pointed at the papers on the ground. Yamamoto's eyes widened in understanding.

"OH! Were you taking those papers somewhere?" She nodded. "...How'd they end up on the ground then?"

She pursed my lips and frowned. Yamamoto was a nice guy, but still sort of slow. "When Tsuna and I bumped into each other, I dropped them..."

His eyes widened in more understanding as he held Gokudera back from maiming the poor girl who had shrunk back.

"OHH..."

_Yes. Ohh..._

* * *

"Thanks again," she said earnestly to the three of them. They each stood there outside the Reception Room as she neatly placed each stack of papers on Hibari's table. She blinked at the nervous bunch curiously.

"You guys don't want to come in? I'm sure Hibari-san has coffee somewhere. I can make some for you three if you want," she offered as she put the last stack on the surface of the desk. Her underclassman had not only helped her organize the papers that had fallen on the ground, but also the ones that she would have to do for the next few days. She turned to face them and gave them a light smile. "Well?"

Tsuna shook his head rapidly. "N-n-no! T-thanks! W-we think that it'd be b-best to stay out h-here!" he managed to stutter out after a few false starts and Gokudera hitting him on the back. Gokudera grunted in assent to his boss's answer.

Yamamoto laughed. "Maa... Hibari-san wouldn't want us in here. If he appeared now, he'd probably beat us silly for even being outside like this," he remarked jovially.

Tsuna stared at him. _HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE! _

Masami's eyes widened. "Is that so..._" _

"Y-y-y..." THUMP! "HII! T-thanks Gokudera-kun! YES IT IS!"

She blinked. "...I see." _Hibari's that scary, huh? _She grinned. "Well, thank you for everything, you guys. With all this work done, I won't have to stay after school for a few days."

Yamamoto patted her on the head, which she begrudgingly accepted while Gokudera grunted.

Tsuna smiled at her.

* * *

"I'm done."

Hibari's eyes fluttered open to see his secretary standing above him.

Masami couldn't help but become a little pink from the sight. She wasn't one to judge people on their looks, but Hibari was a bit of a looker. And plus, he'd just woken up, so there wasn't that frown that always seemed to constantly be on his face. If not for his rotten personality, Masami was sure he'd have a lot of female admirers. It seemed unlikely he had any now, judging by how everyone tried to make themselves invisible when he was around. The murderous aura around Hibari was stifling and coupled with his looks, it'd easily overshadow someone as average-looking as her. Being his secretary, she had to interact with him a lot to coordinate papers and constantly have him sign things. 

_Well... at least he hasn't hit me in a while..._ Masami sighed.

Hibari grunted and sat up. She waited impatiently for him to finish rubbing his eyes before continuing. He yawned and Masami twitched in response. Jerk.

She frowned. "I'm going then. I finished a lot today, so you won't see me around the Reception Room for a couple of days."

She didn't expect him to answer. She walked slowly back to the door, sighing. Her boss was such an inconsiderate, mean jerk. _All he does is yawn and sleep and beat people-_

"AHH!" Masami jumped back just in time to avoid Hibari bashing her head with one of his tonfas. Her eyes widened. _He-he read my mind? _She looked behind her to glare at him and his stupid tonfas.

"What was that for?" He looked up at her briefly before stowing his tonfas back into his jacket... somewhere. _I wonder where he puts them. _They didn't seem like things you could put in your clothes without looking reaaally awkward in public. She was so engrossed by the question that Masami neglected to notice Hibari stalking towards her until it was too late.

She made a surprised noise as she was pushed against the metal door she'd been standing in front of. Well, actually, he didn't touch her at all. She just kind of shrank back unconsciously from his touch and slammed against the metal. Her owlish eyes looked up to see him glaring at her. Even though he was only, at most, five inches taller than her, he looked much taller this close to her. Masami looked away from his searching gaze. "W-what is it, Hibari-san?"

Masami squeaked as Hibari grabbed her face with one hand and made her turn back to see him. His thumb brushed against her lips. She scowled.

"...Your movements... You keep hiding them with falls and trips, but you've almost always avoided every one of my attacks..." he whispered quietly. "...Are you trained?"

Masami pursed her lips. "Hmph." His eyes widened as she grabbed his wrist and squeezed it with enough force to make him release her. She hopped away daintily.

"Don't ask me that again, Hibari-san," Masami said softly.

Something about her tone of voice stopped Hibari from rushing at her and by the time Hibari had gotten back to his senses, the girl had slipped through the door and run out.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading. Please review if you enjoyed this chapter or have anything you'd like to say. o: Oh, and since I'm still in the process of writing these "filler" chapters before the actual plot begins, I was wondering if anyone wants to see something? Like more development in Yamamoto's/Hibari's/anyone else relationship with Masami. Anything you want to see happen? :D I'll happily take suggestions and try to write something from it. :) Of course you'll be credited for your idea.

**Next Chapter: The Training Session and the Monkey**


	4. The Training Session and the Monkey

**A/N: **Yes, I lied about the chapter 4 title. Kidding. Err. Sorta. :) I actually replaced the original chapter 4 which is now chapter 5 and it is all very much confusing.

A big thank you to Cat, DarkRoadHina, Chocolate Ribbons, KarinMaaka07, Hanazono Aya, Anon, hiyomi, midnight(.)wolf62, Sheepoa, ausumist, DatAznKid and demon twin. Your reviews made me grin :D and further fueled my passion to write. Also, thank you for the ideas/suggestions/critique/support!

For this chapter, there's some interaction between Masami and some of the DC committee. The idea was thanks to **Cat**. :)

This chapter wouldn't have been possible if not for _**Hitsugaya's GreenEyes**_ taking the time out of her busy schedule to beta-read this. Thank you for the encouragement as well! :)

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Training Session and a Monkey  
**

"Read it and weep, boys," Masami declared, putting down her hand with a flourish. The cards in her hands smacked the desk: a royal flush. She grinned as the other members of the committee collectively groaned. Almost greedily, she raked in the money her opponents had bet for this last poker game.

Kusakabe had kindly let her take a break from the paper work of the Disciplinary Committee and let her take his place in patrolling with some other members. She'd been nervous at first, being that it was her first time actually interacting with members of the club. She was always holed up in the Reception Room and other than Kusakabe and Hibari, students let alone the other members, were almost never in the luxurious room.

_It turns out they're quite normal._ Masami had been expecting a bunch of absolute delinquents who were difficult to deal with.

She sighed inwardly. _It was the hair... _They were pretty polite, even going as far as to ask her well-being, what with being in Hibari's presence so much. Masami and two other members ended up playing poker in an empty classroom after they were done patrolling.

"Another royal flush!" one of the members and Masami's opponent exclaimed, incredulous. He had thought for sure he would win the game for sure.

"Uwagh! I was going to use the money to buy a video game!" Another one cried out in anguish.

Masami laughed as she pushed the money into her messenger bag. "That's what you get for underestimating me."

The first one, Renji, spoke again. "Tch. We didn't think a _girl _would be good at games like these." He caught Masami's murderous glare. "B-b-but, n-now we know better!"

Masami cocked her head. "You two are sort of sexist..." she said tactlessly. The girl absentmindedly arranged the cards neatly as she waited for a response.

The other member, Higashi, cringed. "I guess..." He looked at Renji, who sure didn't look too proud of himself either.

"It comes with the job description really..." That was the only excuse he could give.

Renji nodded vigorously. "We know now that Masami-senpai really has balls by the way you managed to win every game!" He slapped Masami on the back. Masami made a small surprised noise as his hand hit her. _I...I don't want balls though..._ She looked up to see Higashi and Renji grinning at her and couldn't help but return it with a small smile. She repeated the words Renji said to herself.

_"It comes with the job description really..."_

_Oh... _"I see..." Masami brightened. "I see!" she repeated. "The reason you two think girls are inferior is because you're under the command of the most sexist monkey of them all, Hibari-san!" _That explains everything!_

_...  
_

The brown-eyed girl paused. Renji and Higashi were staring at _something _behind her fearfully.

_Crap... really? Really? This kind of timing is sort of..._ Masami's shoulders deflated slowly and she frowned. She didn't dare look behind her and felt the familiar murderous aura making a sensation against her back.

"...Hibari-san is right behind me, isn't he?" Masami already knew the answer even before the two nodded numbly. She barely had time to gasp as she felt herself hauled up from her chair into a half-standing, half-sitting position. She turned her head slightly to see Hibari's cold eyes looking down on her. Masami winced inwardly. What was worse than him being _mad _that she called him a monkey was his face was _completely_ devoid of emotion.

"Kusakabe," Hibari's smooth voice intoned. "Make sure those two are punished accordingly." Masami looked behind Hibari to see Kusakabe watching the entire scene nervously.

"Gwah!" Masami yelled out as she was dragged. She barely had time to exchange an apologetic glance with Higashi and Renji before she was hauled out of the room.

...

Kusakabe turned back to the two remaining members and coughed into his hand. This was most certainly the time to be stern. "Well, do you two have anything to say?"

"I hope Masami-chan will be okay," Renji said. Kusakabe raised an eyebrow. Neither of them seemed worried about what would happen to them. The vice-chairman didn't know whether to be offended they could possibly be taking him too lightly or amazed that a small girl had charmed her way into the hearts of two Disciplinary Committee members. He could admit that Sakata Masami was quite likable in her own way.

_Ah, though Gokudera Hayato-san would say otherwise_, Kusakabe thought as he remembered that just a short while ago, the silver-haired boy had been seen chasing the terrified female around the school grounds, dynamite in hand. The reason Kusakabe remembered the incident so vividly was because Hibari had, shockingly, gone out of his way to stop the mayhem. The vice-chairman would have thought his superior would have just watched the poor girl suffer.

Kusakabe's thoughts were interrupted by a grunt from Higashi.

"Yeah. She's one of us now, Tetsuya-san. Masami-chan has the balls to be in the committee."

The vice-chairman winced at his underling's choice of words. "Balls...?"

* * *

"I'm sorry, all right?" Masami said gruffly. "Just let go and stop pulling me already!" She frowned when Hibari _didn't _let go off her wrist and instead squeezed it tightly. She flinched and could feel the bruise coming on. Before Masami could retort against Hibari's rough behaviour, she was slammed against some lockers. She moved forward only to be pinned by a hand on her shoulder. Masami blinked up to see Hibari frowning.

"I won't be made a fool, herbivore," he said softly, menacingly. "Why were you playing around?" She cocked her head. He hadn't hit her yet.

"It's just that..." Masami trailed off and looked away. She _wanted _to say that she wasn't the only one fooling around and that Renji and Higashi were obviously there with her. She huffed inwardly. Hibari was always picking on _her_. It just wasn't fair. The female prefect frowned. "We were done patrolling, so the three of us just decided to take a little break before reporting back, _sir_," she spat the last word out mockingly.

"And what were you told before you went patrolling?"

Masami flinched. He had her there. "...That we were to report back _immediately _after we were done..." She cautiously tilted her head up as she felt the pressure on her shoulder disappear. Masami felt strangely sick at the look Hibari was giving her. She had no time to decipher what it meant. The answer came to her in the form of a blow to her side. __

_**Now **he hits me, _Masami thought bitterly as she bent over and clutched her side. He hadn't hit her hard enough to break her rib, but she was sure her side would be aching tomorrow from _another _bruise.

Masami gasped in pain as she felt Hibari pull her back up to face him once more. She could feel the sting in her eyes from tears. He was pulling on her hair so hard!

Hibari sneered. "Then you won't blame me for what's about to happen, will you?"

"Ow, ow, ow..." Masami repeated softly. _Wait, what?_ She paused as she processed his words.

Her response was slow. "...Hah?"

* * *

"Ciaossu Masami!" Reborn exclaimed. He tilted his hat. "What are you doing?"

Masami's arms felt like jelly as she looked down glumly at the baby. She was in no mood to be dealing with Reborn. The girl was still quite sore (metaphorically) of being tricked into the Disciplinary Committee.

"...Holding buckets of water."

"I can obviously see that, you idiot." She glared at Reborn, but he ignored it.

"I'm asking why."

Masami fidgeted and looked around. She _so _badly wanted to drop the heavy buckets and just take a 5-minute break, but she also knew that that damn guy had eyes _everywhere_. She didn't want to be punished anymore than she had to be. "Being punished by Hibari-san for calling him a monkey," Masami stated flatly.

Reborn smiled _cutely_. "How nice."

Masami wasn't sure if he thought it was nice she was being punished or if he thought it was nice she called Hibari a monkey. 

_Probably the first one... this sadistic baby..._ Reborn jumped up and kicked one of her jelly arms.

"GAWH! Damn little..." The baby smiled. He liked surprising Masami. She always made the most funniest noises. She just _barely _managed not to drop the heavy bucket. She staggered, fat drops of water dropping onto the dirt ground. Masami shot Reborn a dirty look.

"I don't think so," she said. "He's always singling me out." Her eyes scrunched together contemplatively. "It's like he's treating me like a little kid."

Reborn raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? That's really interesting, Masami, though that hadn't been exactly my aim when I brought you two together."

Masami pursed her lips. "...What?" She was confused. She knew Reborn had had an ulterior motive when he forced her into the club, but she still hadn't figured out why.

_I have a feeling that's the first and only clue I'll be getting..._

The baby sighed. "You're not stupid, but that denseness towards relationships will cause a lot of problems in the future, Masami," he warned.

"Hm? What are you talking abo-?"

"I wanted to ask you why Gokudera was chasing you a while ago," Reborn interrupted.

Masami blinked, distracted from their previous topic, and thought back to the incident. "Oh..." Now she remembered why. "It was because he called me a lolita. I kicked him in the shin after that." Masami frowned as she recalled it.

She had been watching Yamamoto's baseball game with Tsuna and Gokudera when she had accidentally knocked her elbow against Tsuna's arm. The impact had been light, hardly warranting for the 'sorry' she had given the boy, who hadn't seemed to even notice.

_But of course, Gokudera noticed it. _They had gotten into a huge argument, both of their shouting on par with the roaring crowds. She blushed, embarrassed, as she remembered how everyone had been staring at her and Gokudera. After she attacked by kicking him, the antagonized Gokudera had gotten out his dynamite and began running after her.

"I know I shouldn't have kicked him, but he's had it out for me since day one," Masami explained bitterly. She had concluded that she and Gokudera would never really get along. If it wasn't for Tsuna, she doubted they would be able to stay in the same room without ripping each other's throats out.

"Hmm... I heard that Hibari saved you," Reborn told Masami. He smiled as she suddenly looked even more irritated.

"He... He did," Masami admitted very reluctantly. "But he also tried to take my arm band from me!" She remembered Hibari had said something along the lines of _"Making the committee look bad"_ as he tried to grab the arm band when she had been evading. She had managed to keep it after sacrificing a bit of her pride and asking that annoying guy politely if she could keep it.

Masami really did like the arm band. Students offered, no _insisted_, to let her cut in line when buying lunch. That was one of the good things about the band.

_I can't say I feel that comfortable that people are always running away when they see me though, _she thought regretfully._ Meh, whatever. _She was able to buy all her favourite foods every day without them running out.

"Your relationship's rather good with Hibari," Reborn concluded, smiling. One couldn't blame Masami for the fact she seemed annoyed whenever Hibari was mentioned or when she was speaking with Reborn himself or when she was with was a pretty charming person otherwise.

_Perfect for Tsuna's family, _Reborn thought, pleased.

Masami stared at the baby flatly. "It isn't," she denied. What the heck gave the baby _that _idea?

"Hmm... Anyway, now what I _really _came here for was to ask you to participate in some training exercises with Tsuna and the others."

Masami looked uneasy and it wasn't because she could feel her arms about to fall off. "You'll force me to join in it anyway, won't you?"

Reborn smirked. "_Now _you're beginning to get it."

* * *

"It's so cold!" Tsuna whined. He rubbed his arms in an attempt to increase the circulation. Gokudera flew into a self-made panic as he continually asked the boy if he was all right. Tsuna tiredly assured his friend he was fine. As if on cue, Masami, who was stationed beside Yamamoto, sneezed. All four of them had been roped in to an early-morning "training session" with Reborn in the forest outside Namimori.

_**In the freaking forest.**_

Masami longed for her bed. They had to meet on the outskirts of Namimori at five in the morning to begin their trek to the forest. Not only had the whole ordeal been tiring, her arms were still aching from Hibari's punishment. She had a fairly difficult time walking with everyone else to the forest even after getting used to the stiffness in her legs from Hibari's _stupid _punishment. Notice how _Hibari's _punishment was coming back to bite her in the butt.

_Damn you, Hibari,_ Masami thought darkly.

Yamamoto laughed. "Are you cold, Masami?" he asked, snapping Masami out of her thoughts.

Masami sneezed once again. "Just a little. I should have dressed more warmly." She only had a thin coat on; pretty unsuitable for the chilly morning.

"Haha... If you want, you can take my coat." Masami's eyes widened as she watched Yamamoto begin to shrug off his coat. She quickly grabbed his arm.

"No! It's fine, Yamamoto-kun." She grinned, hoping to reassure him. She'd feel terribly guilty if he got sick because of her.

Yamamoto tilted his head thoughtfully. "Ahh... then here..."

_EH? _Masami felt herself pulled back until her back landed against Yamamoto's chest. Before she could get a word in edgewise, Yamamoto zipped up his large coat, trapping them both in.

She could feel herself becoming red from embarrassment. "Y-Yamamoto-kun!"

Yamamoto grinned. "This will keep us both warm," he explained, completely oblivious to the fact people were _watching_. She could distinctly see the redness on Tsuna's cheeks that could rival her own and Gokudera's shock by the way his cigarette just fell out of his gaping mouth._ And why is Reborn smirking?_ she thought miserably. The closeness was making her feel dizzy.

"...C-could you unzip the coat?" Masami stuttered out.

Yamamoto blinked innocently. "But isn't it warmer if it's zipped?"

"Yes, but..." _That isn't the issue!_

"Hey lovebirds," Gokudera growled out. Said _'lovebirds'_ faced the silver-haired boy. Yamamoto finally seemed to understand the ramifications of his actions because his face was now a light pink. "Pay attention. You're wasting the Juudaime's time."

Masami struggled to unzip the coat while Reborn spoke to them about what he was planning on making them do. She was stopped by a hand on her own._ Huh...?_ She tilted her head up to see Yamamoto smiling down at her. She blinked and then reluctantly continued in her actions, much to the surprise of Yamamoto.

"Sorry, Yamamoto," Masami said quietly, only for his ears to hear, as she pulled away.

Yamamoto paused. "Hahaha, it's no problem. Or rather, sorry for that just now!"

"It's all right..." Masami eyed Yamamoto and concluded he was oblivious as always. She stared down at the ground. She always got nervous when boys got too close to her

Masami wondered when this mild phobia of hers would go away as she listened to Reborn.

* * *

_I'm going to die! _Tsuna thought.

He looked behind him to see Reborn in a jogging suit riding behind him on a scooter. He winced as he heard the familiar click of Reborn's gun and urged his own "stumpy" (_According to Reborn...) _legs to go faster. Just ahead of him was Gokudera urging him on. Tsuna briefly thought how his friend could run backwards like that without tripping over any of the rocks that were littered across the makeshift path they were running on. Tsuna then turned his attention ahead to where he knew Yamamoto and Masami were running together.

His eyes widened at what he saw. Masami was stooped over, shoulders going up and down slowly as she took in as much air as possible through her lungs. Yamamoto stood over her, eyebrows furrowed worriedly, unsure of what to do with his upperclassman in such a state.

"Ma-Masami-san!" Tsuna called out worriedly. He suddenly shrieked in surprise as a small shadow darted past him. He identified the shadow to be Reborn after Masami was kicked in the back of the head. _WHAA?_ He watched helplessly as she tripped and hit her head on the tree that was beside her.

"Reborn!" Tsuna exclaimed as he ran up. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Masami had ricocheted after hitting the tree and landed into Yamamoto's outstretched arms.

She was conscious with blood dripping down her cheek from the wound on her forehead. Masami laughed nervously.

"Oh, Tsunayoshi-kun..." Tsuna frowned, worried, as she giggled. "I hit my head," she said, speech slurred.

_I-I can see that, Masami-san..._ Tsuna turned to Reborn. "Reborn! What's the big idea?"

Reborn faced Masami. "We've only been running for 10 minutes, Masami. You honestly don't mean to tell me you can't even do a simple thing like that."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. What looked to be an insult (which it also was) was actually Reborn's strange way of interrogating someone. Tsuna recognized that. What he really didn't understand was _why_ the baby was interrogating Masami. Tsuna was snapped out of his thoughts as Masami groaned. He turned back to the girl, concerned.

She breathed in deeply, lungs still struggling to get air. "I sort of... have bad endurance," she explained as she stood up shakily.

Reborn blinked. "That's why people train, Masami," he said, looking at her like she was an idiot (again). "If you don't train, then of course you won't be able to run for long."

Masami cringed as she fell back again into Yamamoto. "It's not that I don't exercise, but more so that I can't really up my endurance even if I do train," she answered reluctantly.

The baby closed his mouth. _Maybe a weak body,_ Reborn concluded. But... that didn't make any sense. He had often seen the girl around the school carrying around heavy stacks of paper as Hibari's own personal pack mule.

Tsuna walked up to Masami, hesitating. "Are you really all right, Masami-san?" Yamamoto's mouth was set in a tight line. The usual jovial atmosphere around the boy had been replaced by a more serious one. "Masami, I think we're going to have to go to the hospital."

She waved it off. "It's really nothing. Just a little cut."

"Stupid woman," Masami turned to glare at the scowling Gokudera. "You're bleeding everywhere!" Masami winced as she touched her forehead and felt a jolt of pain.

"Gahh..." Masami bit her lip. "Anywhere but the hospital then," she said quietly. She gave the three boys a wavering smile. "I really hate hospitals."

Reborn looked on silently as the three fussed among themselves.

_Seems I'll need to look up on 'Sakata Masami'..._

* * *

"Young lady," Shamal drawled out. He approached her slowly, like an animal finding a scrumptious morsel.

_P-pervert! _Masami cringed and attempted to back away. She couldn't really do it while she was on the bed, so she opted to look at Tsuna with pleading eyes. He seemed to get the message.

"Dr. Shamal!" Tsuna reprimanded. He was the only one accompanying Masami. Yamamoto had early morning baseball practice and Gokudera had fallen ill after seeing Bianchi when they went back to Tsuna's house to retrieve their school supplies. As for Reborn...

_The little booger's disappeared off somewhere again..._ Masami thought darkly. She could still feel the throbbing from the stitched up wound. After much protesting from Masami, it was a unanimous decision to take her to the school's Nurse's Office to treat her. Masami agreed readily, thinking it was a much better option than the hospital.

_Maybe not, after all..._ The person stationed in the office wasn't a nurse, but a doctor. And a perverted one at that!

_Why isn't he moving __**away**__...?_

The "doctor" ignored the boy and didn't hesitate to lean in slowly. She shrunk back in fear and was about to kick him in the stomach when she felt a slap to her forehead.

"OW!"

He had put a band-aid over the wound, hiding the nasty-looking stitches from public view. Dr. Shamal stood up and looked down at Masami almost distastefully. Masami blinked, confused. She had heard the rumours about Dr. Shamal being a major pervert, especially on school girls. Had she heard wrong?

"Don't get me wrong, little girl," Dr. Shamal started. "You're cute and all, but it'll be a few years before I find _you_ appealing."

Masami didn't know whether to be offended or relieved. In the end, she chose to gape, mouth wide open at Dr. Shamal, who was now facing a slightly surprised Tsuna.

"I'm going to get a beer," he told the teen. "I don't mind the kid being in here since she _is _a girl and all, but I want you out before I come back." And with that, Dr. Shamal left, leaving the other two occupants in a long awkward silence.

...

Tsuna coughed into his hand. Masami really was scary when she was angry. Even without his hyper intuition, Tsuna could feel the terrifying waves of fury emanating from her. "So, Masami-san... are you sure you're okay?"

_Hm? _Masami blinked and Tsuna was relieved to see the dark aura about her had disappeared.

"Eh? Oh! Oh yep!" She smiled. "I'm fine now! Never better!" She clutched her forehead after the words came tumbling out of her mouth.

Tsuna stood up from the chair he had been sitting on. "D-Don't strain yourself, Masami-san." He shuffled awkwardly at the face she gave him. "W-what's wrong?"

Masami paused. "Nothing! Just what you said just now was something someone tells me sometimes." She smiled. "Tsunayoshi-kun really is a kind person, isn't he?"

Tsuna blushed. "I'm really not! I always get low grades, I'm terrible at sports, I'm actually a big coward-"

She interrupted him. "That... That doesn't matter. The low grades nor your athletic ability... and..." She looked up at Tsuna with big doe brown eyes before grinning. "I'm sure that that cowardliness will go away when it matters."

Tsuna blinked and felt himself turning redder. She wasn't making fun of him at all. That was what he liked about the girl, her sincerity and straightforwardness were good traits.

_...Though I can't say I'm too happy she didn't deny I was a coward._ His shoulders deflated. Tsuna was kind of hurt by that actually... He spoke quietly. "W-what makes you think that?"

Masami pointed a finger at him. "Woman's intuition," she proclaimed matter-of-factly.

"O-oh, I see."

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!"

_Flop_.

Tsuna's eyes widened. "Masami-san!" Her head had landed on the pillow dramatically.

"Just... just a little dizzy, dizzy, dizzy..." she reassured him woozily.

"R-right..."

* * *

Reborn magnified the small print on the digital document in the little computer he was typing in.

His large eyes squinted.

"...It can't be..."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading. As always, anything you'd like to say, whether a compliment or critique or anything would be great to say in a review. :)

**Cat:** Your review was funny. I used it as like the basis of this entire chapter. The chapter basically wrote itself thanks to your suggestion.  
**Anon:** That happened to me on a story I was reading. XD Great question! This chapter is AU up until I reach the Kokuyo Arc, then it'll start following the canon storyline.

**Next Chapter: Pet** (For realz this time!)


	5. Pet

**A/N:** Thank you to **Chocolate Ribbons**,** DarkRoadHina**, **DatAznKid**, **hiyomi**, **Hanazono Aya**, **midnight(.)wolf62**, **Cat**, **true black is white**, **Wrena Wolfkin**, **ausumist**, **Oluhasuu** and **Sheepoa **for reviewing! :D Your reviews further fuel my passion to write.

Because of **Sheepoa**, this chapter is 5k instead of 3k words, chock full of more Masami and Hibari interaction of course! ;)

**General Warning (I forgot to do this in chapter one):** Possible Mary-Sueness, mild sexual scenes (MUUUUCH later. ish), swearing, possible OOCness, cliches.

Thanks to **Hitsugaya's GreenEyes** for re-editing this chapter.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 5: Pet**

Masami meekly ate the food after saying thank you to Tsuna's mother. The noise around her was loud. She'd been invited to dinner by Reborn to his house earlier today. Masami agreed immediately, thinking a homemade meal would be great. Even though they were almost always together, the girl hadn't pieced together the fact that Reborn and Tsuna _may _have lived in the same house until she had arrived on the door step and Tsuna had opened the door. Then of course being Gokudera, he somehow found out that _"that woman!"_ was eating over at his beloved Tenth's house and promptly came over to eat dinner too with Yamamoto who just came along for the ride.

_How did it end up like this? _Masami had gotten the worst and noisiest seat between Lambo and I-Pin, who were fighting over a piece of steak that Lambo had stolen from I-Pin. _Whoa! _Their fight was disrupted when Reborn kicked Lambo, who was waving the steak around, off the seat and sat down on it instead. Masami looked down at Lambo who was on the ground with a large bump on his head and then the steak that had landed on her lap.

Reborn turned to Masami. "How do you like our family?" he asked Masami. She peeled the steak off her lap and put it on a napkin on the table. She frowned. There was a brown stain on her pants now.

_Now that that's all done... _Masami looked around to see everybody, who were all in their own way fretting over the crying Lambo. She smiled lightly as Tsuna picked the kid up and Lambo hugged him tightly around the neck, nearly choking him. Everyone laughed. Even Gokudera smiled a little.

"It's... it's nice," Masami said softly, looking at the scene before her. "The noise makes everything more... cosy, I guess? It's better than living in silence, I think." She grinned at Reborn, who returned it with a friendly smirk.

* * *

"Ahh..." Masami sighed. She stretched languidly after letting her heavy bag down on the floor . Kusakabe looked up from the reports and smiled softly at the new arrival in the Reception room.

"Good morning, Masami-san," Kusakabe greeted.

The girl's eyes opened to focus on her fellow prefect before grinning. "Morning!" she replied cheerfully.

"What's gotten you in such a good mood today?" His conversations with the girl were enjoyable. Usually, Kusakabe would be talking about the committee most of the time, so it was a breath of fresh air to be able to talk to someone about normal things. He had recently found himself talking to Masami more. Perhaps it was because for a while now, they had been left alone together in the Reception room without the chairman's presence while they both worked. He discovered Masami was much more talkative when Hibari wasn't around.

"I don't know," she told him truthfully. "It's just one of those days that start out good, I guess." She cocked her head, beckoning him to understand.

Kusakabe nodded. Once in a while he had those kinds of days too. Being part of the committee where he had to take care of the many under him, it didn't happen often, _but_ it did happen once in a while.

"Oh," she breathed out as she walked to the window to take a peek out on a whim. "And you know of those days that start out good, but then become bad quick-What is **_that_**?" Her tone of voice made Kusakabe hurry beside her. He peered out the window with her to see where she was pointing. Kusakabe blinked at what he was seeing. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hmm? Oh..." He simply saw the chairman standing in front of a group of students. He was most likely disciplining them for being late. He looked down at Masami and she was glaring at Hibari.

"He's punishing the latecomers," he explained slowly. Didn't it look obvious?

Masami shook her head furiously. "I don't mean that. I mean _that!_" She pointed to a brutalized male student who was lying unconscious by Hibari's feet. Kusakabe cringed then. How could he explain that? It was the first time the girl was unusually early. The committee's members were allowed to walk in first period 15 minutes late. He knew Masami always took advantage of that, so she had most likely not seen any of Hibari's "latecomer punishment sessions" until today.

"Oh, um, that is..." Kusakabe stammered, trying to come up with an excuse. If the girl found out _why _there was someone lying on the floor, knowing her personality, she'd most certainly go down to shout at Hibari. Kusakabe could only imagine how disastrous _that _would be.

Masami pieced it together easily enough. "He's going to hurt them, isn't he? And he's already hurt one of them!" She caught Kusakabe's lack of eye contact. "He is, isn't he?" she said accusingly.

"Please Masami-san, don't go down there," Kusakabe pleaded.

Much to Kusakabe's surprise, she was already at the door. _Fast!_

Masami gave him a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about it. I'll protect every one of those students from Hibari-san's wrath." She was gone before he could say another word.

Kusakabe frowned, concerned. He was worried more on Masami's behalf than anything.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Hibari-san! I won't be late again, so please don't-" In the next moment, the boy was lying on the ground unconscious. Hibari glared up at the rest of the latecomers and smirked when he saw them quaking in fear. One down.

He had only taken a step when a girlish shout stopped him.

"Hold it! Hibari-san!"

Hibari turned to see his secretary stomping towards him. He then looked back at the group, who were also looking at the new arrival. His eyes narrowed at a scrawny boy, most likely a first year, whose eyes were now hopeful from the turn of events. Hibari promised himself he would beat the hopefulness out of the naïve boy next.

Nobody escaped his punishments.

Masami was beside him in an instant. "You can't just go around beating students up, Hibari-san," she stated plainly.

Hibari gazed disinterestedly at her flushed cheeks and determined, chocolate brown eyes.

"They were late. They deserve to be bitten to death."

"Not like this, they don't. _Please_ just give them detentions if you want to punish them," Masami retorted hotly.

A detention wouldn't be enough to make the latecomers remember not to be late again. Masami seemed to realize this too for she looked away thoughtfully.

Hibari turned his attention away from the previously squawking girl and eyed the group. They were silently watching, maybe shocked someone was shouting at _the _Hibari Kyoya. He noticed, with some satisfaction, all of them were too surprised to even think of running away. He didn't want to be chasing after them to deal out punishment.

"Umm... Then... give them two detentions...?" Masami finally said weakly.

Hibari stared at her and then he said, "No."

To his amusement, Masami grumbled. He watched through half-lidded eyes as she suddenly stiffened with resolve. "Then... then what you were planning to do to them, you can do to me," she said quietly and looked down. Hibari raised an eyebrow. It was an interesting proposition... He would take her up on it. In the end, he supposed it didn't matter who got punished, as long as someone did. If the fool of the girl wanted to be hurt by him on other people's behalf, he wouldn't stop her.

"All right."

Masami blinked up at Hibari, eyes shining with some concealed amazement he had agreed. Hibari turned back to the group, who up until now had been ignored.

"All of you will be receiving two detentions. Report to Kusakabe Tetsuya. If I find out any of you skipped out, you will be bitten to death." Hibari raised a tonfa in his hand. The students shrunk back fearfully.

"...And I hate crowding."

The students took that as a cue to leave and they gladly did. Hibari hardly noticed the loud frantic steps of them as they ran past. He had turned back to face Masami, who was glaring at him. Her eyes showed no fear and for a brief moment, Hibari allowed himself to be impressed.

"Oof!" a voice yelled. Their staring match was interrupted by a boy, the same first year from before, tripping behind Masami. Hibari observed through half-lidded eyes as Masami turned back after hearing the noise.

Masami bent down swiftly and helped the hapless boy up. "Are you all right?" her familiar tinkling voice asked.

The boy nodded, head bobbing up and down quickly. "Y-yes! Thank you, senpai!" The first year bowed deeply. Hibari watched Masami smile kindly to the boy.

"Be careful next time."

Hibari almost rolled his eyes. It was obvious the boy was thanking her for taking his punishment. Masami had misinterpreted it as a thank you for helping him up.

The boy looked confused, but bowed deeply again. "I-I will." He dashed off without another word.

Masami turned slowly back to Hibari. His eyes flickered down to her hands. They were trembling.

She breathed in deeply. "Okay!" she pointed to Hibari. "Let's get this over with! I've got 10 more minutes before I have to go to class, so do what you want with me until then."

Hibari smirked, recalling her shaking hands. "Are you scared, herbivore?"

She pursed her lips. "Of course I am!" Masami exclaimed shamelessly.

Hibari was taken back. "Is that so..." He'd expected shallow bravery or something of the like. What she said was... interesting, to say the least. But he was disappointed at what she said next.

"But I won't let you hurt people for no good reason like that, Hibari-san..." Masami looked away then to the ground.

...

The concept of _protecting _someone was a completely foreign concept to him. Only a weakling relied on people to protect them and only a fool would protect someone. Hibari _always_ fought for himself or to protect the peace of Namimori.

"That's why..." she clenched her fists and stood a little straighter before looking at Hibari right in the eye. "You can do whatever you want with me."

Hibari smirked. "Whatever I want..."

She nodded in affirmation. "That's right." Hibari could tell that Masami was shaking ever so slightly. He had to admit it was somewhat impressive she hadn't fainted from fear yet. Usually, students would be on the ground by now, either scared to death by him or bitten to death by him. He tilted his head ever so slightly. She hadn't closed her eyes and was still looking directly at him.

Hibari murmured quietly,"...But not impressive enough."

…

"...What?" Masami asked, bewildered. He wasn't making sense again. She stiffened as he reached into his coat to pull out, most likely, his tonfas. She wasn't disappointed. The sleek, shiny metal made its appearance. She watched, unflinchingly, as he raised one above his head. Masami blinked. It was only for less than a second, but more than enough time for Hibari to do some damage. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He hadn't hit her at all. _Then he had meant to scare me by pulling out his tonfas?_

Almost in a daze, Masami watched as Hibari walked past her towards the school.

Wait a minute...

_Waaaiit! Why's he walking away!_ Indeed, Hibari was now walking away from her. She stood there, confused and frowning. All he'd done was scare her. She thought the punishment would be much worse. _Of course I'm sort of relieved that was all-... _Masami stiffened as he turned back to look at her.

"Remember those words, girl," Hibari ordered.

She had spoken too soon, hadn't she? Hibari smirked, satisfied with her astonished expression, and disappeared into the building.

_What just happened...? Ahh, nevermind. _"Phew..." Masami collapsed to the ground. The adrenaline from moments before had been used up. She was now a scared puddle of goo. She tried standing up carefully only to fall back on her butt like a newborn deer. What did he mean by 'remember'? She clutched her head. _Is it... 'remember that I.O.U. a pounding later or something'?_ She would have rather Hibari had beat her up just now! _Now_ she had to watch out for him doing it later! And she wouldn't be able to dodge him because she had promised him she would take on the punishment.

"ARGGH!" Masami yelled out in frustration and then proceeded to pound her fists against the ground. That probably wasn't the smartest action to do during such a dry day since she began coughing violently as dust made its way into her lungs. _Great! Completely fantastic! Wonderful! s_he thought hysterically, still hacking.

Masami sat there for a few minutes, ignoring how she was now late for class and coughing every now and then.

"..." She blinked slowly, realizing something.

Hibari hadn't called her a herbivore.

* * *

"...then it goes _whoosh_, **bump**, bam, and then **vooom**! Do you get it now, Masami?"

Masami blinked up at the grinning Yamamoto and smiled uneasily at him. They were in the park. Yamamoto had offered to give her some lessons in baseball and she had readily accepted. The sport seemed fun enough and Masami liked spending time with the cheerful boy, so that was a bonus.

"No..." She looked weakly at the bat in her hands. It was Yamamoto's own bat. She was a lot shorter than Yamamoto so she felt uncomfortable holding it. He laughed happily.

"Ahaha, that's no problem. Just go with the flow then if you don't get it!"

_Should a teacher really be saying that? _Masami thought nervously as she watched Yamamoto take his place on the pitcher's mound.

"All right! Here I goo!" he called out to her cheerily.

Masami nodded hesitantly. This was Yamamoto. She trusted him. _I think. _

His bright eyes suddenly became hard. Masami almost toppled over in surprise. 

_Ehhhh? _Where was the cheerful guy who had been laughing just a few moments ago! He threw the ball with such force that Masami barely managed to hit it. She gripped the bat tightly as she smashed it into the ball. The ball hit the bat with a satisfying crack as it made contact and sailed over the fence surrounding the park.

"Wow!" Yamamoto used his hands as a visor and watched the ball go over some houses. He turned back to Masami and grinned. "That was amazing!"

She could feel a flush make its way to her face. "Thanks."

He nodded. "You should join the baseball team, Masami. You're really good!"

Masami laughed nervously. "That was really beginner's luck, Yamamoto-kun."

"No way! I bet you could be one of the starters on the girls' team easily," he pointed out, smiling.

She couldn't help but return it. He really was a nice guy.

Masami tilted her head thoughtfully. "I would join if I wasn't already in the Disciplinary Committee," she replied jokingly.

"Haha, you could join the baseball team if you quit Hibari's club." He walked up to retrieve his bat from her hands. Masami looked up at him and her eyes widened.

Yamamoto's eyes were completely serious. He wasn't talking either... just staring at her.

_Okay... awkward... _Masami scratched the back of her head and looked away. The mood had suddenly become so stifling.

"Nobody is quitting my committee, Yamamoto Takeshi," a voice stated. Masami and Yamamoto turned around to see Hibari with a tonfa out and a body being dragged by his free hand. He let go of the body unceremoniously with a 'thump'.

"That thing there..." Hibari gestured with his bloodied tonfa to Masami who was staring worriedly at the man in his grasp. "...is mine." He made a step towards Masami. She shrunk back.

Yamamoto put himself in front of Masami defensively and grinned. "Maa maa, Hibari. I'm sure we can solve all of this without fighting amongst ourselves." Yamamoto's jovial eyes hardened, something which only Hibari could see. The prefect raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Masami isn't yours anyway."

Hibari smirked at the other male's reaction. "The little herbivore can't solve her little problem herself, so she calls her little herbivore friends." He directed those words at Masami. It was meant to provoke her. And it worked.

_He's implying I'm weak! _Masami huffed angrily and started for her fellow prefect only to be stopped by Yamamoto.

"Hahaha, Masami. Don't let him provoke you." He held her back carefully, an arm around her waist. She frowned. How could he still be smiling? Didn't he know the situation they were in? She stared at Hibari, whose eyes were flashing in anger from Yamamoto's interference.

Masami protested. "But Yamamoto-ku-Eh!" Her eyes widened as Hibari rushed towards them and knocked Yamamoto out. He made a beeline towards her and she barely dodged. Hibari followed through with his other tonfa and landed a direct hit on her side. _C-crap! _Masami fell back, arms flailing, only to be pulled forward by a hand that gripped her wrist tightly. Masami winced as the grip tightened on her wrist. She looked up to see Hibari looking down at her, eyes glittering with hidden amusement. She scowled and immediately tried pulling away.

"Stop!" Masami cried out nervously as she tried to pry his cold hand off her wrist. Hibari gripped it tighter and she grimaced. He began pulling her towards him deliberately slowly. She dug her heels into the dirt, but he was too strong. Their faces were mere inches away when he spoke.

"...No matter what, I won't let you quit," Hibari said coolly, his voice akin to a soft purr.

Masami didn't notice the tone of Hibari's voice. She kept pulling, ignoring whatever the heck he was saying. He had hit Yamamoto and...she looked at the boy on the ground. There was blood leaking out from the head wound he got from Hibari. She glared at Hibari.

"At least let me call the hospital for Yamamoto-kun," Masami bit out. She spared a glance at the man who had been beaten up by Hibari. "And for that guy too..." Hibari's grip loosened for a moment as he looked at Masami thoughtfully. She frowned because she_ still_ couldn't get out of his stupid grip! _Okay! That's it! _Masami yanked hard. Her eyes widened as she fell back. Hibari had suddenly let go.

Hibari looked down at the bewildered Masami from his peripheral vision. "30 seconds."

_Eh...? OHH..._Masami quickly scrambled for the cell phone in her pants pocket and shakily told the person on the other line where she was. The call ended with a beep. She looked to Hibari and found he was walking off to the park exit. Masami blinked. That was it? That was all he came to do?

_Of course it wasn't. _Masami watched him turn back to look at her expectantly. She sighed wearily and followed after him, but not before carefully putting her handkerchief on Yamamoto's bleeding head. _That should stem the bleeding a bit until the paramedics arrived._ She said a silent 'sorry' to Yamamoto for leaving him.

Masami didn't see Hibari's glare directed at her crouching over Yamamoto.

* * *

"I daresay this goes beyond the call of duty, Hibari-san," Masami pointed out blankly as they trekked through the supermarket. Hibari turned around to glare at her in his usual higher-than-thou attitude. She glared back at him. He'd interrupted her baseball lesson, hit Yamamoto over the head and dragged her to the shopping district just for _this_.

"Carrying _your _groceries wasn't part of the job description when I joined the committee, Hibari-_san_," Masami spat out. The absolute nerve of this guy! Didn't he have a whole legion of brainless subordinates from which he could pick from to carry his food around?

Hibari turned away. "...You don't seem to be having much trouble, herbivore."

The girl flushed. He must have meant how she was easily carrying the two baskets of his extremely heavy food. Her strength was already an embarrassing talent. He didn't need to point it out! She let go of the two baskets. They landed with a clatter on the ground. Masami crossed her arms. She was fed up with his attitude. Too much of Hibari in a day was getting on her nerves.

"That isn't the point! The point is that you're making a girl carry your things when you could, I dunno, _do it yourself! _I could be at home doing my homework or eating dinner!" Masami pointed outside to the darkening sky just to prove her point. "It's already so late! Who buys groceries this late anyway? I knew it! I knew you were crazy-MMPH!"

"Quiet," Hibari ordered. He shut Masami up by shoving a piece of lettuce from the basket into her mouth. Masami spat it out and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Eck. The lettuce tasted like dirt. Just for good measure, he hit her on the head with his fist. Masami squeaked and her head bobbed comically.

"OW!" She rubbed the spot and looked bitterly at the prefect's expressionless face. Hibari smirked. Her eyes widened as he turned on his heel and left for the cash register. Masami stood there gaping at him. The bastard had totally ignored her and her speech. She stood there for a few moments with her mouth hanging until he turned around.

"Hurry up," He turned slightly towards her. "Or I'll bite you to death." He was much entertained by Masami's reaction of stepping back and clutching her chest.

Masami frowned, still in a defensive stance. He could be serious about his threat. You never know. "F-fine. But I'm not doing this because I'm scared of you or anything. You got that? ...EH?" He had turned at the corner of the aisle.

Masami started after him. "Hibari-san? Hibari-san! Are you listening?"

* * *

"Yamamoto, are you really all right?" Tsuna demanded worriedly for the umpteenth time. He'd gotten a call from Yamamoto's father asking if he could visit his son who was in the hospital since he was too busy with the restaurant. Tsuna agreed immediately, also worried for his friend. Reborn had listened in on the conversation and had wanted to come too. The little baby was right now sitting on the white sheets of the bed with Yamamoto, who was rubbing his bandaged head, laughing.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, but..." His eyes suddenly darkened with worry. It made Tsuna shudder. What could be wrong if it made _Yamamoto _worry? "Do you know if Masami's all right?"

Tsuna's eyes widened. "EH?" he exclaimed. He hadn't known Yamamoto had been with Masami. Reborn tipped his head and looked at Yamamoto.

"What happened, Yamamoto?" Reborn asked.

"Oh, well, we were playing some baseball _-she's pretty good at it!-_ and then Hibari came, all angry and stuff," he explained cheerfully.

"EHH?" Tsuna screamed. He knew the girl would never leave Yamamoto alone with an injury like that if she couldn't help it. "Then Masami-san got taken by Hibari?"

"...I think so..." Yamamoto said anxiously. "You think she'll be okay?"

"Hmph." Tsuna and Yamamoto turned to face Reborn who was smirking at them. "If she's with Hibari, then I'm sure she'll be fine then."

Tsuna sweatdropped. _I don't really think so... _

* * *

_I am _**not **_okay!_, Masami thought as she hopped away just in the nick of time to dodge a man who had been hurled in her general direction. She turned to glare at Hibari, who was too busy kicking a man in a stomach. She pursed her lips. 

_That's... a little excessive..._Especially when the man was already unconscious. And bleeding. His face looked really swollen too... Masami adjusted the grocery bags in her hands. The handles were starting to cut into her hands because it was so damn heavy! Hibari sure was taking his sweet time.

As soon as they had exited the store (She still felt bad for leaving the cashier on the ground after he had fainted like that from Hibari's presence...), they'd been surrounded by a group of thugs.

**Normally**, one would run in the other direction if a bunch of men with visible knives in their hands approached them, but Hibari _wasn't_ a normal person, which Masami had learned quickly of from the first moment they met. The two teenagers had been ordered by one of the men to come with them and then pointed (with the **knife**) to a nearby alley. She had also remembered glaring at Hibari who was at fault for the whole fiasco when the man mentioned they were avenging their friend who had been beat up by Hibari and sent to jail. And being Hibari, he had willingly followed! And then commanded Masami to follow him.

_Ugh._

Masami dropped a bag and put a hand to her nose. The smell of blood was getting strong. She watched with wide eyes as Hibari turned around to face her prone form_. _His eyes narrowed at the sight of blood on her sleeve. Some of the blood from the man who she had dodged had accidentally splattered on her clothes.

He walked slowly towards Masami.

Masami stiffened. "Agh! Don't come here! You're covered in blood! I'll p-punch you if you get any closer!" She wouldn't _really _punch him. She was too scared to, but maybe he would take her threat seriously.

Much to Masami's chagrin, Hibari didn't.

* * *

"HAH?" Tsuna exclaimed. "Hibari ordered Masami-san not to quit?" The girl didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities about her that Tsuna could think of to make her appealing to the head prefect, no offence. In fact, she seemed to be quite ordinary, which was a breath of fresh air to the Vongola heir's insane lifestyle.

Yamamoto nodded sheepishly. "...I was sort of surprised too."

"Idiots," Reborn said, staring at them carefully with black beady eyes.

"He _likes_ her..."

Tsuna's eyes bulged out of his sockets. Yamamoto even seemed to be a bit surprised.

"WHAT, WHAT, WHATTT?"

* * *

Masami carefully peeked with one eye. Hmm, Hibari was still standing in front of her, glaring/staring at her. She couldn't really differentiate from his glares and stares yet.

She ventured, "H-Hibari-san?" That seemed to snap Hibari out of whatever funk he was in.

He scoffed. "Hmph." He reached a bloodied hand towards her. At least, she assumed it was bloody. It was too dark to really see any details. She tried melting into the wall.

It **wasn't **working.

* * *

"...as a cute little animal," Reborn finished, amused at Tsuna's exaggerated reaction.

Yamamoto was the first to break the tense silence with a laugh.

"Hahaha, is that so?"

"What do you mean, Reborn?" Tsuna spluttered. Hibari liked animals? **Cute **animals? He couldn't even say it in a full sentence in his head. _Hibari-san likes cute...AGH! I can't!_

The baby smiled. "You don't think Masami is cute? I mean in the little kid sort of way."

Yamamoto smiled. "Haha. I think she's cute in a different way." Tsuna flashed his friend a shocked look (_Don't tell me! REALLY? Yamamoto!)_, but said nothing. Reborn smirked at the Yamamoto's response. Tsuna coughed awkwardly and thought about Reborn's question carefully. Straight, long dark hair with matching brown eyes, and, most importantly, a childish face was basically Masami's appearance.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess..."

* * *

"EH?" Masami struggled to keep Hibari up, trying to avoid his blood dripping on their purchases. He had fallen on top of her after doing something totally not like him. _Did he always act like this when he was hurt?_ She glanced down at the boy in her arms and then felt a blush blossoming on her features. Hibari had... he had caressed her cheek. That wasn't what was making her red in the face (though staring at his sleeping face was definitely not helping!). It was how he had done it: gently.

Masami could feel her heart speeding up for some reason. 

_What...What is this?_ she asked herself. She always was sincerely nervous around males, the only exception being if she got to know them well like Tsuna and the others, but this was the first time she felt her heart pounding so quickly. A 'clang' made Masami jolt in surprise. One of the cans had dropped on the asphalt. She realized despairingly that there was now a hole in one of the plastic bags. She bit her lip.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Masami scolded. She could think about her heart later. Right now she had to take care of the groceries. _And Hibari...I guess_, she added as an afterthought. And with that, Masami turned her attention to the guy she was _barely _managing to keep up. She gave the unconscious boy a stern glare. After a prolonged silence, during which Masami thought of solutions to her problem, she finally realized there was only one possible solution. _O__nly_ one. And she was _very_ reluctant to act on it. She stared accusingly at Hibari.

"You suck," she said bitterly. Hibari didn't reply. "You seriously suck. What the heck am I supposed to do with you?"

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you were all at least a little bit surprised, haha. XD What is Masami's only possible solution? You'll find out next time. :) Sankyuu for reading and please review to tell me what you think.

**Cat:** How she is first thing every day might be good to put in the next chapter. I'll see if I can stick it in there. ;)  
**Hanazono Aya:** In this case, it's great your siblings thought so, imo. x)

**Next Chapter: Existence**


	6. Nonexistence

**A/N:** I think I should stop putting "Next Chapter" titles at the end of each chapter. I keep changing the titles! ._. I'm sorry I didn't reply to anything. In the middle of exam week right now. Two more exams to go! :D

Thank you to _DarkRoadHina, ausumist, DatAznKid, Chocolate Ribbons, hiyomi, worldwithoutend, Sheepoa, MoyaMetalDango13, midnight(.)wolf62_ for reviewing! As always, it is much appreciated! :D

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!

Warning: OOCness abounds!

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 6: Nonexistence**

Hibari was first aware of the unfamiliarity of the bed under him. The second thing he noticed was a blurry shadow hovering over him. He acted on his reflexes. He grabbed the figure and flipped them over so they were lying on the bed underneath him.

"...Herbivore," he growled when he registered it was the girl. He noted the straight face she had on and raised an eyebrow. The instances when she showed no reaction to their close proximity were beginning to grate on him. Had he been wrong about his assumption? Sometimes she was afraid of him and other times, she wasn't.

He wanted her to fear him again.

"Eeh..." Masami struggled under Hibari's weight. "Could you get off me?" He had trapped her hands to her side so she couldn't push him away. Masami could feel the circulation to her hands being cut off by the prefect's vice grip on her wrists. She looked sullenly at him. Her eye twitched as he purposely put more weight on her.

"G-get off!" she yelled, turning a furious shade of red.

Hibari paused and looked at her flushed face thoughtfully. Then he let go. She immediately rolled off the bed, landing with an audible thump on the ground.

"Ow..." Masami said as she rubbed her back. Hibari ignored her and sat up. He felt the pain on his torso and looked down. He was slightly bemused by the bandages wrapped around his chest. They were wrapped quite badly though.

Masami had gotten up and saw the furrow in his brow. "We're in my home. I patched up your wounds," she explained. The girl held herself akimbo and glared down. "Why did you go ahead and do something so stupid?" _And then drag __**me **__into it..._ she added silently. She was 100% sure none of the other members had to bring Hibari into _their _home.

"..." Hibari looked away and chose instead to examine the tray of food she was holding.

"Hey!" Masami frowned. _Rude..._ Masami pursed her lips. He wasn't going to answer her. _Grr..._ "A-anyway, you also have a fever," she remarked. "It'd be best if you stayed-" She was interrupted by him standing up. Hibari refused to stay in this place under a herbivore's care. "Wait a minute..." Masami pulled on his bare arm. He gave her a scornful glare. She flinched, but didn't let go.

"You're really hurt," she said as she started pulling him back to the bed. She noticed he was too weak to shake her off. _Exactly my point!_ Hibari grunted and began to start for the door. Masami's eyes widened as she felt herself being dragged by his sheer force and willpower.

_Why..._ She frowned and dug her nails into his arm unconsciously. Hibari turned to face her then. She blinked at his reproachful glare and the noticed the crescent-shaped marks on his toned arm. Masami let go quickly.

"Oops. Erm. Sorry." Masami scratched the back of her head. Her eyes focused on Hibari's own. "Is it really that bad? To rely on someone?" She tilted her head, curious.

Hibari sneered. "I'm not weak like you."

He probably didn't mean to sincerely hurt her with his words. It was just another one of his words that shouldn't have meant anything to her, but his words cut deep.

**_It's all your fault. If you hadn't been so weak..._**

Masami breathed in deeply, dispelling the sadness in her heart and the lump in her throat. She was sure her eyes were now a little red, but it was dark. Hibari wouldn't be able to see. Her mouth was set in a grim line of determination. She'd have to try another angle to convince Hibari to stay! Masami took a deep breath. _All right..._

"Your clothes are in the wash. You're going to go out like that?" she asked, pointing to his bandaged chest.

...Checkmate, Hibari. Checkmate.

Hibari slapped her hand away and stalked towards the door. Masami stared at his back, gaping. _He's acting really..._ She let out a small laugh. Crap. She slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake, but it was too late. His hand was on the knob as he turned back.

"What's so funny, herbivore?" he growled.

Masami stared for a moment, then grinned at the frowning prefect. "Never knew you were such an exhibitionist, Hibari-san," she said coyly, referring to the fact he was shirtless.

Hibari looked at her for a brief moment, expressionless. Then he smirked.

...

"OW!" she screeched. The force of his smack on her head _really _hurt. "What was that for!" Instead of answering, Hibari hit her again with his fist, wishing his tonfas were with him. Then he could do some real damage. The herbivore must have put it somewhere.

"OW! Quit it!" Masami whined. She glared up at him, brown eyes flashing. _At least he's staying._ She now wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. Masami continued her explanation bitterly while he was still paying attention.

"It'll take a while for your clothes to dry since I don't have a dryer. You may have to stay here for the night..." She trailed off, realizing she didn't want Hibari in her apartment for an entire night. The bastard would probably kill her in her sleep. She blinked up at the frowning prefect. "...Actually, can you leave? It's not that cold out really." Hibari looked behind her out the window to see the first _**snowfall**_ of the year. "If you run home, you'll be fine. I'll bring your clothes to school tomorrow."

Hibari hit her again.

"..." She **swore** this was the last time she'd save him from freezing to death. _Should have just left him in that alley..._ Masami rubbed her head, tears spurting from her eyes."CAN YOU STOP HITTING ME!"

He frowned. "Herbivore..." Hibari looked down at her exasperated half-lidded eyes and flushed cheeks as she glared up at him. He paused and then looked away. "Go get me some aspirin, herbivore."

"Huh...?" She blinked. He had just _commanded_ her to get him something. _Ungrateful! So ungrateful! _She wanted to hit him, but wasn't _that_ stupid.

"I'm your subordinate, not your slave!"

* * *

_"Where am I..." Masami heard herself asking. She was in a large room. The walls and ceiling were a dreary grey. It was amazing she could even see what colour the room was. It was** that** dark. She looked around wearily. This place. She vaguely recognized it. How long ago? What was this?_

_Masami stiffened as she heard the quick breathing a few feet from her, the person most likely against the wall. She bit her lip as she heard the shuddering inhales of the stranger. The person was having a difficult time breathing. It was only when she heard the cough that Masami realized it was a child. Her eyes widened. Why was a kid in a place like this...? Immediately, she started for the direction of the child. She had only been here for five minutes and Masami already understood that wherever she was, it couldn't be a good place for anyone to be in, let alone a child._

_BANG!_

_Masami froze as she heard a series of bangs against the adjacent wall, followed by a loud yell. She heard the child gasp as a door against the adjacent wall was pushed open with a dramatic bang against the wall._

_"Nice gorilla voice," a female voice said sarcastically from outside the room. Masami squinted her eyes at the sudden invasion of light. "Is that supposed to power you up or something?"_

_She blinked slowly, adjusting to the light. She could finally see clearly. The room wasn't as large as she had thought. It was grey and depressing though. A bed was propped up against one corner with a toilet beside it and a sink on top of the toilet, much like the set-up found in a prison cell. Masami blanched. That had to be a bit unsanitary? Masami turned to look at the child only to pale quickly. She could clearly see the bright-coloured hair and eyes of the young girl as the kid looked out the door, wide-eyed. Masami couldn't see from her position what the girl was looking at outside the door, but she already knew. _

_She already knew what was going to happen next._

_"You're scaring her," a guy's voice scolded half-heartedly._

_Masami couldn't breathe. This voice... _

_She watched, frozen stiff, as the scene unfolded before her. A boy in his teens walked into the room and stood in front of the young girl before kneeling down._

_"Yep, this is her." He proceeded to pick up the girl who was too weak to resist._

_"Finally..." the female sighed. "Let's go. This took too long. You so owe me for this." The teenage boy never once took his eyes off of the child's own glassy orbs as he carried her in his arms to the door. "Aa..." The girl in turn never broke his gaze._

_"It's because of your mother that we came for you," he said gently to the girl. Masami stepped back. The three didn't hear her echoing footsteps nor the thump when her back hit the wall behind her. She must have been like a ghost to them. These were **her** memories after all. Her palms were sweaty and she felt nauseous all of a sudden._

_It couldn't be..._

* * *

The bed was too soft.

Hibari couldn't sleep. He wasn't used to this annoying lack of firmness under his back. He also wasn't used to his nose being invaded by a feminine smell and an artificial flowery smell from most likely detergent. To say he was restless and irritated was an understatement. Hibari sat up silently and looked out the window. It was still snowing. Heavily too. He scowled and got off the bed to head to the door.

Hibari was silent as he padded out to the small apartment. He frowned distastefully as he looked around. It was cramped, not because of the minimal things in the apartment, but more so that the apartment was so tiny that one couldn't walk around without having to squeeze past things every once in a while. A light snort made Hibari stiffen. Guardedly, he walked to the source of the noise only to scowl when he realized it was the girl, sleeping on the uncomfortable-looking couch. She rolled over, a small frown on her features.

...

Hibari leaned down until his silky strands of hair touched Masami's face. Other than a twitch of the nose, she didn't stir. Impulsively, he brushed a long lock of brown hair out of her face. He grabbed a bunch of her hair to run his hand through it.

"...Rei..." Masami muttered softly as she rolled again. Her features softened and she now had a small smile on her face.

Hibari's eyes narrowed. A man's name? He unconsciously pulled on the brown locks and ignored the small yelp she gave.

The emotion snaking around inside of him wasn't good at all.

* * *

"Herbivore..."

"Hm?" Masami grunted grumpily. She looked to him cautiously with bleary eyes as they made their way to school. She yawned for the umpteenth time. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Hibari scrutinized Masami's attire carefully. She looked down. Yes, a coat to keep out the cold. What was wrong with that?

"Why are you wearing the male uniform?" He'd been meaning to ask the girl ever since she had enrolled, but had never gotten a chance too. Now that they were walking to school together -if you could count Masami staying a far distance from Hibari walking "together"- he could finally ask the reason.

"Because..." Yawn. "the school didn't have any more girl uniforms in my size. It doesn't matter anyway," she muttered out. She stomped ahead of him just so she wouldn't see his raised eyebrow. Yeah, she knew she was weird. What girl _wouldn't_ want to wear a cute little skirt? Apparently, she was the odd one out. Masami was so tired and miffed that she didn't see the thin sheet of ice on the ground and slipped.

"UWAGH!" she cried out as she fell forward. Her book bag was emptied of its contents as she crashed down. She felt Hibari walk past her as she blew some stray strands of brown hair out of her eyes. She thought she heard an amused chuckle from him as he went past her, but dismissed it. Hibari wasn't the type to laugh (out loud) at people's misfortunes. An embarrassed Masami was glad Hibari walked past her. She wouldn't have let him help her up anyway (_Not that he was going to..._).

Her pride was slowly being destroyed in front of this guy.

* * *

"Woman, slow down!" Gokudera snarled. Masami frowned as she chewed on the latest piece of sushi that she'd stuffed into her mouth. Her cheeks were full of sushi from stuffing a lot into it like a squirrel with acorns in its mouth. It was lunch break. Yamamoto had kindly brought enough sushi for all of them to eat for their meal, which Masami had accept with readiness, even going as far as hugging Yamamoto tightly. Everyone but her had seen Yamamoto's slightly pinkened cheeks as she embraced him. Masami coughed, choking on a bit of sushi. Yamamoto patted her back, laughing merrily. That seemed to dislodge the piece of food. She gave a small thank you to him.

She glared at Gokudera soon afterwards. "Bwy bould whi?" she shot back, spewing rice on Gokudera. He flicked away a piece of rice on his cheek, irritated.

"Your horrible manners are spoiling my and Juudaime's appetite!" He retorted angrily.

"Actually Gokudera-kun, I'm okay-"

"Really...? Sorry Tsunayoshi-kun." Masami wiped the back of her mouth with her sleeve and grudgingly stopped stuffing Yamamoto's delicious sushi into her mouth. Gokudera huffed angrily. "It's just that I haven't eaten since yesterday." _Hibari had actually eaten my dinner..._

Tsuna's eyebrows raised. "EH? Really?" His eyes furrowed. "Why not?"

She shrugged. "No money." She smiled. "I'm a bit... poor." She picked up another piece of sushi and popped it into her mouth. All three boys stared at her.

Tsuna was the first to break the silence. "WHAT? Masami-san! Isn't that kind of... bad?" he screeched.

"Ahaha. What about your parents?" Yamamoto laughed.

Masami swallowed. "Heh. It's fine, Tsunayoshi-kun. I can last a long time without food."

_What do you mean! You're practically inhaling Yamamoto's sushi, _Tsuna cried out inwardly.

The girl looked down thoughtfully, bangs hiding her eyes. "As for my _guardian, _she doesn't give me a lot of money." Tsuna frowned, noticing she had indirectly avoided Yamamoto's question, but made no comment. Ever the sensitive person he was, Gokudera blinked and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you being abused or something?" he asked bluntly.

Tsuna squealed as the piece of sushi in Masami's fingers were squashed in her fist. For the first time, Tsuna saw Masami freak out. "She's doing it because she likes seeing me suffer!" Masami flailed her hands angrily. "That's why all I've been eating these last few days was cabbage and instant noodles! It's horrible!" Before Tsuna could even shriek, he was smacked on the back of the head by Masami.

_S-she's stronger than she looks! _"HIIIE! Masami-san!" Tsuna cried out helplessly. Yamamoto could barely restrain Gokudera back from throwing his dynamite.

Tsuna's cries snapped the girl out of it. Masami blinked and her eyes focused on the face of the dizzy boy. "Ah, sorry, Tsunayoshi-kun!" She quickly let go and carefully patted Tsuna's now-wrinkled uniform, smiling uneasily. "Sorry, sorry," she repeated. _Ugh._

"What the hell, woman?" Gokudera yelled. He still had dynamite in his hands. "What was that for?"

Masami rubbed the back of her head. "That was... me... venting?" she replied lamely.

Yamamoto grinned. "Ahahaha. I've heard that's very good for releasing anger."

Masami smiled. "Yes! I feel much better now. Thank you, Tsunayoshi-kun." She pursed her lips and frowned. "Sorry though. I thought you were Akane-san for a moment."

_Akane-san must be her guardian. Their relationship doesn't seem to be that good though..., _Tsuna concluded nervously. "N-no problem. It's the least I can handle after you saved me from the tree- HIIE! Put out your dynamite, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna gestured frantically at Gokudera, who had raised a hand full of dynamite at the flabbergasted Masami. Said boy grunted and reluctantly put them out.

Yamamoto smiled. "Ahaha... Why don't you talk to her about giving you more money to pay for some food anymore?" He gave the rest of his lunch to Masami, who grinned at him in thanks.

"Oh, well..." She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, ignoring the disgusted face on Gokudera's face, and looked thoughtfully at the sky.

"I don't know where she is."

* * *

"Sign these," were followed by a slam of papers on the hard wooden desk. Hibari looked up to see Masami standing above him expectantly, arms crossed. He stared at the huge stack of papers and then at Masami. He was doing it again. Looking at her clothes. Masami was almost tempted to wear a girls' uniforms just so he would stop staring at her.

She glared. "Hibari-san."

His gaze sharpened. Hibari glanced at the pile before pushing them away. "Later."

Masami gaped. That wouldn't do. "I need them today, Hibari-san."

"I'll take care of it." He was passive about the situation and that made her worried.

She pursed her lips, but said nothing. His definition of "taking care of something" was threatening some people, followed by bodily harm. She was too tired to even attempt to reprimand him.

_Oh yeah..._

He watched as she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a familiar red-gold armband. His eyes narrowed. _His _armband. He didn't have to question her.

"You left it at my home," Masami explained_. _She pointed to the armband he was wearing now. "The head prefect should abide by his own rules." Before Masami had been accepted into the committee properly, she was forced to learn the rules that applied to the members. As she could recall, it was unacceptable to lose one's armband in any circumstance. She smiled sweetly.

"You're breaking your own rules."

Masami felt elated as he snatched the armband from her outstretched hand, meanwhile glaring at her. She had bested him in his own game. Masami sighed inwardly. Now if only she could bite _him _to death. She smiled softly as he put it on though. "I won't tell anyone, Hibari-san." She put a finger to her mouth just to emphasize her point. Hibari turned away from her to open his desk drawer.

Her eye twitched.

She had just been ignored, right?

The crinkling of plastic made her blink, curious. She thought he was getting his tonfas (and was ready to bolt), but that didn't seem to be the case. Her eyes widened as a flick of his wrist flung the package into her chest. Masami caught it, albeit clumsily. It was a girls' uniform of the school.

"...Why?" Masami asked, confused. She had even specifically told him she was okay with wearing a boys' uniform.

Hibari scoffed. "Females should wear the corresponding uniform. Besides..." Masami twitched as Hibari looked at her and smirked. "...students must be able to differentiate that you're a female in my committee." He was already miffed he had a female in the committee. If people thought he had recruited a weak-looking _boy_ in the committee because Masami just happened to be wearing the male uniform, the committee would be thought of as weak.

Pause.

_Hey..._ "What! I don't look anything like a boy, Hibari-san," she retorted hotly. Girl. 100% girl! She had long freaking hair! Didn't that mean something!

"Your childish looks don't differentiate between either gender."

She stamped her foot _childishly_. "It totally does! This here is all girl!" Masami's hands waved comically. "And I'll prove anyone wrong if they do call me a boy while I'm in pants!" She crossed her arms, determined.

"Even fully unclothing yourself?"

...

Masami blushed a pretty shade of pink as she realized the implications of "proving people wrong".

"ARGH! You! Stupid- Nngh..." her eye twitched. Masami threw her hands down, frustrated. "F-fine! I'll put on your stupid uniform." She stomped to the door and turned back to glare at the seated Hibari. "Stop smiling, you! You only won this one time! Next time is my turn!" _or something to that effect, you bastard!_

And with that, she slammed the door.

* * *

It wasn't that Masami didn't like wearing skirts, it's just that she wasn't used to wearing them. She pulled down the skirt to a more modest length as she adjusted the uniform. She patted down her tousled hair and winked at the mirror before looking around quickly. Good, there wasn't anyone in the washrooms. Having someone see her winking in the mirror would have been embarrassing. She twirled in a circle and smiled. She had to admit that skirts were much more easier to move in than pants.

She felt so _free_.

She felt herself grinning. "...Hmm... Girl clothes really are different...!"

Masami's grin then disappeared. _Heh. Calm down, Masami. You're being creepy again._ She took one last glance at the mirror before going out to make her way to the Reception Room with a frown on her face. Hibari had ordered her to go back to the Reception Room after she was done changing, even though she was done her duties for the day. She wondered why. _Aah... must be so that my uniform is following regulations?_ That sort of made sense.

"Here I am!" Masami cried out enthusiastically as she slid open the doors with a dramatic flourish. She put her hands akimbo and puffed out her chest as she stared down the nonchalant Hibari. "How is it?"

"..." He put down the book he had been reading and took off his glasses. "You put your shirt on backwards."

She looked down.

_Urgh..._

"Right..." She marched back out, face heated and unaware of the amused expression on Hibari's face.

* * *

"Reborn, I'm thinking of inviting Masami for dinner again," Tsuna confessed sheepishly as he put down the comic he was reading. He sat up on his bed and looked at Reborn, who was polishing his spare gun.

Reborn paused for a moment. "Tsuna, don't tell me you've fallen in love with Masami..."

He blushed an impressive tomato red. "WHAGH? NO! I still like..." He lowered his voice. "_Kyoko-chan_."

The baby smiled. "Good. I've worked too long and hard embarrassing you in front of Kyoko for you to be changing targets." He put down the gun carefully on the table.

It took Tsuna a full minute to realize what Reborn had just said.

"WHAT? You mean...! You've been making me do weird things in front of Kyoko-chan **on purpose**?"

Reborn nodded. "That's right." The baby ignored his student's indignant spluttering and turned to his pupil. The baby also ignored how Tsuna's nose was bleeding from the kick he had just given to the boy's face.

Tsuna put a hand to his bloodied nose. "WVHAT WUZ TAT THOR? Veborn!" Tsuna watched, incredulous, as the baby sat himself down on the bed.

"It's weird for you to be the first one to make a move, No-good Tsuna. You aren't motivated at all," he stated. "So why?"

Tsuna stuffed a tissue into his nose and looked away from his tutor's prying eyes. "It's just that... I heard from her today that she doesn't get a lot of money from her caretaker to pay for food." He scratched the back of his head."I was hoping you could help me ask-EEK!" Tsuna shrieked as Reborn grabbed his shirt and pulled him down until he was at the baby's level.

"Reborn! What are you-!"

"What else did she tell you?" Reborn questioned, beady black eyes looking into Tsuna's own cowardly brown.

"Eh...? Nothing much. Just that her caretaker's name is Akane-something or another?" The baby was scaring him more than he usually did. Why was Reborn so interested in Masami?

Reborn reluctantly let go, but not before headbutting Tsuna just for kicks. "I was doing some research on Sakata Masami after that first early morning training session. I do it with all your subordinates, you know."

Tsuna rubbed his aching forehead. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You told me about the time Gokudera-kun had sent a store clerk into the hospital because the guy had said he was too young to be buying cigarettes." He hadn't wanted to know that at all, but Reborn had insisted on telling him. "And Masami-san is NOT my subordinate. How many times do I have to tell you, Reborn?"

Reborn sighed. "Learn to accept my choices, Tsuna. It'd be a lot less painful for you if you did."

_W-was that a threat? _He gulped and chose to ignore Reborn's remark.

"So..." he started unenthusiastically. "What did you find out about Masami-san?" He knew Reborn would tell him sooner or later. Might as well be now rather than later. He hoped it was something normal. Maybe that Masami liked pink? Unicorns? Something normal. **Pleaaase...**

Reborn tipped his hat to cover his face. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the frown on the baby's covered face.

"Absolutely nothing. I couldn't find anything on a person named Sakata Masami."

Tsuna's jaw dropped. Reborn's feared stalking abilities hadn't worked?

The boy frowned. "Nothing?"

"Yep. It's like the girl, Sakata Masami, doesn't exist."

* * *

**A/N:** And that's the big (anticlimactic) secret of Reborn from chapter 4. :) Thanks for reading! It'd put me over da _**mooon**_ if you left a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter. Your reviews fuel my passion to write.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Disappearance


	7. Disappearance

**A/N: **Thank you to **DatAznKid**, **Chocolate Ribbons**, **Stuffedninja101**, **ausumist**, **Sheepoa**, **hiyomi**, **DarkRoadHina**,** Anindoufu**, **Oluhasuu** and **Hidden Gates** for reviewing! As always, it is greatly appreciated. :D

Thank you so much to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading this chapter.

* * *

~...~

_A woman in her early 20s shielded her eyes and exhaled wearily as she stepped off the taxi parked in the Namimori shopping district. She squinted her eyes as the bright sunlight hit her face and proceeded to take out a pair of stylish sunglasses to put on._

_She grinned widely, white teeth flashing. "All right. It's time to find her~"_

~...~

**Possession  
Chapter 7: Disappearance**

"Masami-senpaii!"

Masami turned to see two girls running towards her. She blinked. They stopped in front of her. The girl waited patiently for them to stop heaving for air. She knew exactly how it was to feel out of breath.

"Yep?" she asked politely. The pair both looked up at the same time. Masami unconsciously stepped back from their flashing eyes.

"We have a question..." the one with the glasses began.

Masami smiled pleasantly. "Well, hit me with it then."

"I really do want to _hit _you-!"

"Yoko! She's part of _that_ club. We can't!"

"Tch. Fine." the other girl said, dyed hair swaying as the girl looked away.

Masami stepped back, confused. _I think I just witnessed something unpleasant..._

The nicer girl looked up at Masami again. "W-We were wondering if... you and...Yamamoto-kun were...going out."

Masami's eyes widened. "W-what? NO!" She raised an eyebrow at the unrestrained relief the two showed. "Why did you think that?"

The mousy girl twiddled her thumbs. "It's just that... We saw you two were at the movies the other day and we thought..." she trailed off.

Masami smiled. "Oh, yes. I was there with him." She didn't notice 'Yoko' being held back by her friend. "I also went with Tsunayoshi-kun and Gokudera," she continued on obliviously.

Her two underclassmen blinked. "We thought since you had been holding hands..."

Masami pursed her lips. She remembered that unplanned experience and sighed inwardly. _So every time you see a boy and a girl holding hands, you assume they're together?_ "

It was unplanned," she stated.

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "How can that sort of disgusting display of affection be _unplanned_?"

The prefect groaned inwardly. "It was Reborn. He glued our hands together." She had had to go to Yamamoto's house to wash it all off. It took **two** hours. She wasn't in the best of moods after having to walk home in the dark, even though Yamamoto had walked her home.

Glasses girl raised an eyebrow. "Who is Reborn?"

Masami glared murderously at nothing in particular. "A brat. A real bra-" She felt a sharp blow to her hand, interrupting her in mid-word. The two girls screamed as their senpai fell to the ground.

...

Reborn blew the smoke out of the barrel of his tranquilizer gun before twirling it with one finger expertly.

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow..." Masami moaned as she staggered out of the infirmary. She clutched her head to nurse the headache. She had a distinct suspicion that it was Reborn who had caused her little trip to the infirmary.

"Damn that little baby..." she stumbled outside of the building, school bag hanging haphazardly off her free arm. She shook her head before standing up straight again.

_Okay, it hurts a lot less_! she thought optimistically. Another sharp ache through her head pierced that thought. _Ok...it isn't, it isn't. What the heck did he do to me? _She touched the band-aid on her neck and winced. It had the same sensation as being pricked with a needle. Masami stiffened. She could feel... someone looking at her. Masami turned around and looked up to see a familiar figure perched on a third floor window sill.

Hibari looked on silently as the herbivore waved to him enthusiastically before clutching her head. He closed his eyes to yawn and his superior hearing could vaguely hear an indignant huff coming from below. When he opened his eyes again, she wasn't there anymore.

* * *

"Why is this happening to me?" Masami grumbled as she knocked down a trash can she ran past.

She made a triumphant huff as she heard the cries of surprise. Some of her pursuers had tripped over the spilled contents of the trash can. She turned a corner only to see another alley. Masami paused. She had been in the shopping district just five minutes ago, walking around. It was Saturday so she could spare a little extra time without worry of homework or Hibari for the rest of the weekend. She may have even been able to catch another movie with her friends.

_But..._ Masami chanced a look behind her.

_Um..._

Even with the little incident back there, there now seemed to be more of them?

She had been approached by a group of suspicious-looking men who asked if she was Sakata Masami. Masami felt like hitting her head against a wall. She shouldn't have said yes! She shouldn't have run away! Especially into an alley! She really was no good with acting calmly when she was in a bind, which was now fully proven, what with strange men chasing her. Masami faced back ahead.

Now she was in this crazy situation. She was a fast runner, but that didn't make a difference in this situation. Her endurance had always been terrible and lazing around for the past few months in school and with friends hadn't helped at all. She could feel her lungs struggling to get enough air as she ran. They felt as if they were on fire. Masami bit her lip. She knew she couldn't last much longer.

The girl turned another corner...

...only to be met with a fence blocking her. She could hear the confused shouts behind her, perhaps wondering which way she had gone. It was dark, so naturally it made sense if they lost track of her.

Masami's eyes darted around and landed on several crates, stacked neatly upon each other and beside the fence. It looked perfect as an escape route. Masami ignored the pain in her chest and scrambled to the pile and climbed up them quickly. She had just put one hand on top of the fence when she felt a rough hand grip her ankle tightly and yank her down.

Masami registered her screaming before she was knocked out by a blow to the stomach.

* * *

Tsuna felt like _shit._ He shrieked as his two friends were flung beside him against the wall he was right now situated at. He squinted as he saw an upside-down image of black dress shoes approaching the trio and gulped.

This was all Reborn's fault. This was seriously all Reborn's fault! The baby had wanted to sneak into the Reception Room for some unknown reason. Well, actually, he _did _know the reason. The baby had wanted to know why Masami had been missing from school for a day. _A day!_ The baby had ignored Tsuna's suggestions that maybe_ -just maybe-_ the girl was sick. Instead, he had ordered them to distract Hibari while he snuck into the room to do some snooping.

Tsuna _still _didn't see why going into Hibari's office would somehow indicate where Masami was. For all they knew, she could be sick! Why did nothing _normal_ ever cross Reborn's mind?

A cool voice interrupted Tsuna's inner rant. "Sawada Tsunayoshi," Conveniently, he was the only one who was conscious at the moment. "Right yourself up immediately and explain why your group of herbivores decided to make so much noise."

"Y-yes!" Tsuna flipped himself so he wasn't sitting on his head anymore. He stood up quickly. Hibari nearly rolled his eyes as the herbivore almost tripped over his own feet.

"U-um, well, y-you see, Hibari-san-" Tsuna winced. What could he tell Hibari? That the "noise" was actually a smoke bomb planted by Reborn? That didn't seem to be the type of thing that Hibari would take well.

_"Well, I'll be off now," Reborn announced as he walked to the building. "Create a distraction, you three."_

_Tsuna shrieked indignantly. "HOW are we supposed to do that, Reborn? Besides, none of us want to do this." He turned to Gokudera and predictably, following his beloved Juudaime's wishes, he nodded._

_Yamamoto laughed. "Hahaha, I actually want to do this, guys." Tsuna gaped and Gokudera made an outraged noise. Yamamoto smiled and held his cell phone __up. "She hasn't picked up her __cell phone__. That's a bit worrying, __ne__?"_

_Tsuna shook his head. "NO! Masami-san could be too sick to reach the phone!" Why did__** everyone **he__ know __always go for the outlandish possibilities?_

_Reborn sighed. "I prepared something just in case you were unwilling."_

_Gokudera raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Reborn-san?"_

_Reborn smirked and then made a great show of taking out a remote control, his finger on the button. Tsuna paled. What was that?_

_The baby pressed the button._

_Tsuna fainted as he felt the smoke permeating his nose._

Then they were beaten up, courtesy of an irate prefect. Now Tsuna was in this situation with a none-too-pleased Hibari facing him, tonfas out.

"Erm, w-well, y-you see," Tsuna began once more. "W-we were just wondering where Masami-san was..."

Hibari frowned. "Because of you three, I'm behind schedule," he said vaguely and then promptly walked out of the school gates.

...

Okay, what just happened? Tsuna could only stare at the gates that Hibari _-one who had just let them off the hook-_ exited from. His incredulity was interrupted by something landing on his head.

"R-Reborn!" Tsuna exclaimed as the baby neatly hopped down from his head. His shout woke up his two companions.

"What happened...?" Gokudera groaned. His eyes widened as he realized where he was. "Juudaime! Are you okay?"

Tsuna nodded weakly. "Y-yeah. Thanks Gokudera-kun."

Reborn stared at the three seriously. "I found something in the Reception Room. It seems Masami was kidnapped." He held out a wrinkled piece of paper, an envelope in his other hand and ignored the different emotions invading the three. "It doesn't say the location though, but it says that something would happen to Masami if Hibari Kyoya didn't '_get his ass over here_!'" Reborn said mildly, quoting the poorly-written note addressed to the prefect.

Reborn sighed. "I'm guessing an abandoned warehouse or factory is where she's being held from what I can tell from the picture."

Tsuna furrowed his eyes worriedly. "Picture?"

Tsuna's eyes widened at the picture presented to him. It was clearly Masami, unconscious, tied to a chair. Tsuna grimaced. Scratches lined her arms and face and she looked to be bleeding from her forehead, judging by the stream of blood that was lining her cheek. The background depicted large windows, cut up into smaller squares by black metal bars.

"Oh..." was all Tsuna could croak out as he watched the now fragile-looking girl looking peaceful in her slumber. He gave a start as he sensed Yamamoto rise, bat in his hands.

"Let's go Tsuna. We should go save Masami."

Tsuna looked up and was surprised to see Yamamoto's regular smile wasn't there. Instead, it'd been overtaken by a more, dare Tsuna say, dangerous expression. Yamamoto swung his bat experimentally and Tsuna could honestly say that his friend was imagining Masami's captor's head in the path of the swing. Tsuna cringed and wondered if he would suddenly have a 180 degree change in personality if Kyoko was ever kidnapped.

Reborn shook his head. "That isn't necessary." He blinked up at the trio. "After all, Hibari's going to go get her." He turned to Yamamoto warningly, who looked like he was about to say something. "She'll be fine if it's Hibari."

Tsuna's eyes widened in realization, remembering Hibari's parting words.

_"Because of you three, I'm behind schedule." _

* * *

"Umm, excuse me."

The gruff man turned around to face Masami, who was staring at him flatly. She assumed he was the leader. He was the biggest out of the whole lot and looked to be about in his 40s. He even had the stereotypical look of 'the boss' around him. He was wearing a leather biker jacket, with biceps bulging out and threatening to break the expensive material. His small, beady eyes shifted around once in a while, but she knew it wasn't because he was afraid of her. It was just a natural tendency for people who were criminals that didn't want to get caught. And to top off it off, his hair was slicked back with too much hair gel.

_Oh..._ She noticed something amidst her _slight _fear of him. _Is that a gold tooth?  
_

"What, you bitch?"

Masami frowned._ No need for language..._ "Why am I here?" she said as she discreetly struggled with ropes around her wrists. _Damn, no good._ The man and his companions snorted condescendingly. She twitched. She _so_ wanted to kick all of them where it hurt right now.

"You see, _girl_, we had planned to kidnap Kusakabe Tetsuya as payback for your _esteemed_ leader, who had headed a drug bust a few months ago. We've been watching him and his members for a long time and carefully scheming and devising our plan that has come into fruition on this very day." After his long-winded speech, they went back to ignoring Masami to talk about how they were going to kick "that bastard Hibari's ass!".

Meanwhile, the female prefect was thinking many pointy things about Hibari, gaze darkening._ You stupid bastard... getting me into this. What kind of 16 year old leads a drug bust anyway! And now I have this unpleasant feeling knowing I was being stalked by a bunch of grown men!_ She shuddered. _They may know where I live now! Damn you, Hibari! And do I look anything like Kusakabe? No! Our height, face and __**hair**__ are completely different! _

Masami paused. _Wait a minute..._ "Why did you kidnap me and not Kusakabe then?" she asked mildly, still trying to struggle with the ropes. They turned their attention to her.

The man smirked. "We couldn't find him so we had to settle for the next best thing."

...

_That isn't something to be proud of, you second-rate stalkers, _Masami thought bitterly, feeling a bit hurt she was only second best, even though it was second best on 'the list of people to kidnap'. She bit her lip. There was no way Hibari was going to go and save her. From what she could tell, his feelings of her ranged from anger to indifference.

_Which means my chances of being swept off my feet and rescued are slim to none, _Masami thought sarcastically. On the other hand... _He does like fighting unnecessary fights..._ She chuckled inwardly as she imagined Hibari eager to send these men into a world of pain.

He would come not for her, but for the sake of just fighting.

_But I still should try to get out of here..._ Masami remarked inwardly.

Her eyes narrowed at the stairs behind the large intimidating guard. They were on an elevated platform in what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. Masami couldn't recall any warehouses in quaint Namimori, so that meant they were, at best, at the outskirts of the town.

_Worst case scenario is that we're really far away from Namimori. _She cocked her head. That wouldn't make sense though, since they expected Hibari to come, they would make the location easily accessible. Her chair was conveniently situated next to windows that reached from well below the elevated platform they were on to the high ceilings on the building. Masami raised an eyebrow. Why would they put her beside a window which she could escape from? She leaned in towards the window to take a look-see outside.

_Oh..._ They were not only above the ground as expected, they were _way_ above ground. She was counting about 40 feet, maybe more. Her tentative escape plan was interrupted by a loud aggravated shout. Masami jerked her head towards the sound. It was one of the men.

"WHY ISN'T HE HERE YET?" the leader roared. His minions shrank back.

"I-it's only been a day, boss. I'm sure he'll come in a while..." one of them said quietly.

_What the-?_ Masami's eyes widened in surprise as the leader punched his subordinate in the face.

The other man fell back from the force of the punch. She gaped at the teeth and blood beside the unconscious man's head and swallowed slowly. His eyes had not closed either and she felt herself unable to tear her gaze away from the whites of his eyes. He had been knocked unconscious before he could even close his eyes.

But Masami's gaze _was_ torn away when she felt rough, large hands dig their fingers into her cheeks. Her neck was twisted painfully and she looked up into the beady eyes of the leader. Her nose scrunched up as she smelt the alcohol on his breath. He was drunk, which Masami knew would be unwise to be against an opponent like Hibari.

_Yet..._ She glanced at the leader's subordinate. It could be an advantage seeing as how his level of violence was now on par with Hibari. She bit her lip.

Masami barely registered the threat from the man that if _"Hibari didn't come in an hour, then she would wish she were dead."_ She was too scared to listen properly, but not for obvious reasons. Masami's dilated eyes looked at the large puddle of blood around the unconscious man's head after she was flung into the windows. The momentum had made angry red marks around her wrists, but she didn't even notice that. All she could feel was dread slowly making its way into her body as she slowly realized something.

It would be all her fault if Hibari was hurt.

* * *

A/N: Cliffhangerr! Haha, this chapter may have been a bit boring, but please look forward to the next chapter! There will be quite a bit of fluff! XD Masami's and Hibari's relationship will be moving along now. Tell me if it's moving too quickly and I'll do my best to slow it down. :) On another note, I'm expecting this "Daily Life" arc to end after I'm done chapter 10, then Mukuro will make his appearance.

Oh yeah. A new community called 'Gamble' was recently made by **Fish and Chipz** for KHR OC fics! If you have any recommendations for awesome OC fics, then just tell me via review/PM or maybe even Fish and Chipz. You can also ask her if you can join as a staff member. Here's the link: .net/community/Gamble/89415/

_Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! :D Your reviews fuel my passion to write. ;)_

* * *

**Next Chapter: Development **(Yes, it's a lame title)

_"Why here? I don't want to stay here."_

**"I think Masami-san should quit the Disciplinary Committee!"**

_"Are you two a threat to the Vongola family?"_  
_"She isn't, but I can't say the same for me."_

**"I mean that I will knee you and I hope it hits you."**

_"Don't disobey me."_


	8. Progression

A/N: Fluff! Ish! I **know** Hibari's OOC, but I hope is the kind of OOC that's likable. Please tell me if you think it's the bad kind of OOC.

Thanks a bunch to **DarkRoadHina** (For some reason, I cannot PM you), **StickyTapeButterflies**, **DatAznKid**, **stuffedninja101**, **Chocolate Ribbons**,** fuwacchi**, **ausumist**, **hiyomi**, **GrimmaulDee**, **Anindoufu**, **Sheepoa** for reviewing. You guys are truly amazing~

Thank you to **Hitsugaya's GreenEyes **for beta-reading! :)

* * *

**Possession  
Chapter 8: Progression**

_All righty then, _Masami thought cheerily, grinning foolishly. _Any minute now! Yep! Any minute! _

...

She suddenly swerved her away from the windows behind her, breathing heavily. _NO. **No way**._ Crap. She really couldn't do it. After all, what kind of sane person would jump out of a window while they were 40 feet above the ground? Masami looked at the agitated leader from the corner of her eye.

He had gone from spewing threats at her to despondently playing poker with his eager-to-please-lest-they-get-punched-in-the-face lackeys.

_Urgh..._ Masami bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood as he suddenly shoved the wobbly table away from him. The poker chips and cards crashed to the ground as surprised hollers surfaced. She cringed. It was now or never while they were busy with calming the boss down._ Here goes... _The only good thing about her bleeding wrists was that they were the result of being pushed against the windows. She managed a reluctant smile. It was easier to escape now that she was so close to the glass. _Courage, Masami, courage! _

_All right... Ok then..._Masami was **completely** psyched up now. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

_1...2...__**3**__! _Masami pushed herself backwards hard. She heard the satisfying crash of the fragile glass breaking as she fell through. The whistling of wind through her ears was deafening, but her sight was still good. Her eyes were blatantly telling her that _if I don't right myself up, I'm going to crack my skull wide open!_ She was plummeting towards the earth, headfirst, bits of cracked glass coming down with her and occasionally she could feel the sting of a piece grazing her skin. She inhaled sharply.

_Okay! _Masami swung herself in mid-air and barely managed to make it on the chair legs and her own feet as she met the ground.

"PAIN!" Masami screeched, tears spurting from her eyes.

"Pain. Just pretend there's no pain then. No pain, no gain..." Masami winced, feeling sharp stab of pain zip through her legs. "Yes! Who am I kidding! There's so much pain... Ugh..." The vibrations from the impact had rattled her bones painfully. This was also the second time she accidentally bit her tongue because of Hibari Kyoya.

Even though the chair had broken upon impact, there was still the issue of remnants of wood bound tightly to her limbs. Masami's grasp tightened around a piece of glass she had caught during the fall. She ignored the biting feeling of her palms being cut open and the frantic shouts above her as she broke the bonds around her wrists with the glass. Once her hands were free, the process came a little more easily with her bound legs. Masami wiped her hand against her cheek, smearing blood against her face as she scanned her surroundings. Her eyes lighted up as she saw an _open_ gate door in her line of sight.

_What luck!_ She sprinted towards the exit, barely managing to avoid the claw-like hands that tried to grip the back of her shirt. Masami winced as she felt the effects of being bound to a chair for a day and more, but forged on. She could hear her pursuers _breathing_ down her neck as she sprinted. She knew they would make good on their _"You'd wish you were dead"_ threat if they caught her. Masami reached the gate only to feel a harsh tug at her clothes from behind, pulling her back. She shut her eyes tightly as she felt herself falling back.

_I was so close too..._ Pain, pain and more pain in store for her now that they got their hands on her. Every part of her body felt like crap and she knew everything was about to feel even crappier.

_Huh...? _he felt a strong tug on her bloodied wrist that jerked her forward. Her face landed on something soft and hard. She let out an 'Oomph'. Masami craned her neck up to the person who was holding her against their own body. Her eyes widened and she looked down quickly.

"You came... you... actually came..." Masami breathed out. She knew undoubtedly he would come, but it was still amazing to see him here. Then her eyes widened. Hibari's going to get hurt if he faced them. "Hibari!" Masami's eyes narrowed. Hibari wasn't paying attention to her, instead choosing to glare intensely at her pursuers.

"What?"

Masami neglected to notice how Hibari had maneuvered her behind him. She was more annoyed at how he was still glaring at the men with his own weapons out. "Let's just run," she reasoned out. She knew even Hibari Kyoya wouldn't be able to face this many opponents.

"Quiet."

_Urk! _Masami unconsciously stepped back as Hibari turned to face her. The light in his eyes weren't completely sane...

"I'm not weak like you." Hibari turned back before he could see Masami's hurt expression.

Hibari was angry. Beyond pissed. He wanted to hurt them. The ones who had dared to attack a member of his committee deserved to pay severely. When he had glanced down at the relieved expression on Masami's face and Hibari had felt an unknown emotion crawling inside him. Guilt? Maybe. Why was she relieved? Shouldn't she be angry at him instead for dragging her into this? The girl's eyes had expressed no hate, only... happiness that he was there.

Hibari frowned. She was just full of surprises, wasn't she? He turned his attention back to the group who were now deathly afraid. They had planned to lure the prefect into a corner or something with the girl as bait. They knew they had no chance fighting him directly.

"..._Hibari." _That was weird. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. Maybe from the blood loss? Hibari's eyes narrowed when he heard the soft voice behind him, making the thugs yelp, believing the prefect was glaring at _them_. His eyes widened as he felt something hit his back. He quickly caught Masami, whose head had landed against his back. He looked down at her tranquil face thoughtfully and then felt the wetness of blood.

The thugs watched as the boy, Hibari Kyoya, set the unconscious girl down in a surprisingly careful manner on the ground. Her long hair splayed, framing her cutesy features. Hibari paused and brushed away a strand of hair that had stuck on to Masami's face from the blood. The men stiffened as Hibari turned around slowly, the promise of murder in his eyes.

They would **pay**.

* * *

"So, what happened to those guys-" Masami winced. "OW! Not so hard!" she said as Hibari applied alcohol into her wrists. Masami looked around at her surroundings with concealed awe. She had woken up on a couch in a traditional Japanese-style room. A room which she could only assume was in Hibari's house after waking up to see him _glaring _at her.

Hibari stared coolly at her crumpled-up face. "They've been dealt with accordingly."

Her eyes widened. "Y-you didn't kill them, did you?" She stared hard at Hibari's blank face, who was looking intensely at his hands wrapping a bandage around her sterilized wrists.

Masami twitched. "Hibari!" She was injured and still had enough energy to worry about others? And worry for those who had caused her wounds? Hibari sighed and tied the bandage around her wrist tightly. Masami frowned as he made a satisfied grunt and stood up to walk out of the room, maybe for more bandages or something. Was it just her, or was she being treated like a small injured animal?

Masami shrugged. _I must be imagining things... _

If only she knew.

Masami glanced at the doorway Hibari had disappeared into just to make sure he wasn't there anymore, staring at her. He seemed to do that a lot. She sighed and looked at the scroll painting hanging across from her on the wall. It read_ 'Namimori'_. She raised an eyebrow. _Really, Hibari? Really?_ He loved this town so much that he had a scroll with its name hanging in his living room. That was... nice. _Well..._ she inspected the impressive work he'd done to her wrists and at the numerous bandaids pasted on her limbs and face before grinning widely.

_I guess I admire him too then, just like Yamamoto-kun!_

Masami looked up as she heard him come back in with, you guessed it, more bandages. Hmm, the "I'm being treated like a pet" thing was gaining more credibility as time passed. She shrugged it off. She couldn't even say a coherent sentence in her head with Hibari and little pet._ Hibari likes little ani-AGH! I can't do it!_

"-bivore..."

"Huh?" she turned to look at Hibari who was sitting beside her on the couch. He had finished wrapping a bandage around her hand and was watching her patiently.

"What were you thinking about?" The amused sparkle in her eyes hadn't been lost on him.

Masami waved her hands, ignoring the pain from the action. "N-nothing!" If he found out _she _thought he liked cute animals, then she would surely be beaten up. She looked at his grandfather clock and then outside to the darkening skies beyond Hibari's traditional Japanese-style paper doors. She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. Hibari stared at her blankly.

"Anyway, thanks for everything. I really should be going. School work to catch up on and I need to be sleeping. I'm really tired." She got up and padded to the door, carefully glancing back every so often at the immobile Hibari. "So I'll just be going now-GWAHH!" Masami was pulled back easily by Hibari. She stiffened as she landed on Hibari's knee. She shut her eyes tightly as she felt her cheek pressed against the soft shirt that covered his shoulder.

_W-what? The heck?_ Masami dug the fingers of her uninjured hand into her palm hard. She didn't like this feeling. Not at all. Not with Hibari. Definitely not with Hibari. The only person who could make her feel like this was-

Masami's eyes opened as she felt Hibari's breathing softly against her hair. She stiffened even more at the feel of his thumb, tracing circles on the palm of her bandaged hand as he held it. He noticed and smirked against her hair.

"You'll be staying with me, herbivore," he whispered into her dark brown tresses. He could smell the faint fragrance of shampoo in her hair; the smell of _his_ shampoo. He had ordered her to take a bath after he had brought her back to his home.

"W-what? Why?"

"I didn't deal with all of them. A few of the herbivores managed to escape."

Masami blanched. His line of thought, that it wouldn't be safe to go back to her apartment, made sense to her, but there was just one small detail that was niggling her.

"Why here?" She turned to glance up at his half-lidded eyes. "It doesn't have to be here."_ I don't want to stay here._ Masami was nervous. When she was nervous, she tended to babble. A lot. "I mean, your parents will probably be irked if a girl stays here. I can ask Tsunayoshi-kun if I can stay at his house. His mom is really nice, you know? I'd feel bad though, staying in their crowded house, but it would only be for a few days, right? You're pretty fast when it comes to catching 'herbivores' and I'll even help you. And on the off-chance Tsunayoshi-kun says no, I can ask Yamamoto-kun or even Gokudera-"

Masami grimaced as Hibari squeezed her injured hand hard.

"Not him..." Hibari said softly.

Being the _intelligent _girl she was, Masami responded with a "Huh?"

Hibari's eyes hardened. "You aren't staying at Yamamoto Takeshi's house, herbivore. I won't allow it."

She frowned, confused, but then brightened up almost immediately. "Then does that mean I can stay at-?"

He interrupted her. "No. You'll be staying _here_."

Masami could feel herself losing. The look in his eyes was certainly not good. "But your parents..." she began weakly.

"I live here alone." She blinked up at him curiously, but he didn't say any more. Hibari smirked at her resigned expression.

"...Fine." Satisfied, he lowered his head into the nape of Masami's neck and closed his eyes.

"What are you-!"

"Don't move," he ordered. Her eyes widened in realization. She looked down at Hibari's face and realized he had prominent bags under his closed eyes. She bit her lip guiltily. He must have spent all night looking for her then. She facepalmed inwardly. _Great. Just great! _

_Damn conscious__! _"Fine, but only this once," Masami said, referring to him awkwardly lying on her shoulder. She noticed him staring at her chest and blinked as she gaped. Was he...?

"...Necklace..." he muttered. Masami felt herself filled with relief. So he wasn't a pervert. "...Where did you get it?" It wasn't one of his usual questions he asked when he was paranoid. She frowned. It was a normal question, no ulterior motives whatsoever.

_So this is what Hibari's like when he's sleepy..._ She would have called it cute if it was anybody but Hibari. Masami followed his gaze to see him staring through sleepy half-lidded eyes at the pendant around her neck. She always wore it hidden under her clothes. She forgot to put it back into her shirt after she was done showering. She never took it off. To her, the pendant was a part of her after wearing it for so long.

Masami opened her mouth to answer, maybe lie, about the origins of the dark bluish gem but then saw Hibari had closed his eyes. She listened to the slow breathing of Hibari and sighed wearily. Without thinking, Masami ran her fingers through Hibari's hair.

It was soft and felt nice, like there was silk beneath her fingers.

* * *

All that was left of the incident after about a week was a bandage on Masami's forehead and an aching ankle. She had managed to sprain it during that 40 feet drop. It wasn't sprained anymore, but she could feel a dull ache whenever she walked too much._ Hmm..._

"Masami-san, are you sure you're okay?" Tsuna asked once again as he looked at his friend, who was looking at her foot with a mildly uncomfortable expression on her face. Masami sighed heavily, making Tsuna flinch.

"I'm-I'm fine, Tsunayoshi-kun," she managed to get out, smiling lightly.

"Woman, you look like you're about to keel over any time now," Gokudera said bluntly. He took a long drag out of his cigarette and she coughed as some of the smoke stung her nose.

Masami blinked and then frowned. "It's fine, Gokudera-kun. And stop smoking. It's bad for your lungs, you know," she tiredly admonished, albeit half-heartedly. Gokudera scowled, but said nothing.

She really was fine. The swelling had gone down quite a bit since the incident. It had been a bad sprain, so bad that she hadn't been able to walk to school without resting every minute, but she had refused to go to the hospital when she was offered. She really hated the smell of hospitals. Sterile and lifeless. It was no wonder she always felt so uncomfortable when she was in one. So she had stuck with hopping/walking to school for a week while the swelling went down, although sometimes she caved in to Yamamoto's offers to give her a piggy-back.

Tsuna smiled at his senpai's liveliness. "That's good." He looked away guiltily from her grin, still feeling bad that he hadn't gone to help. Despite Reborn's assurances, he had still been worried for Masami until she appeared the next day, patched up and waving. Beside _Hibari._ Tsuna shuddered. He knew that Hibari was the reason why Masami had been kidnapped. This only made Tsuna worry more. What if a repeat of the incident happened because she was in the Disciplinary Committee?

Tsuna took a deep breath. Reborn would be proud to see him now, worried about his "subordinates". Where was he anyway?

"I think Masami-san should quit the Disciplinary Committee!" Tsuna said in one breath.

Gokudera flailed. "Juudaime! There's no need to worry about this woman!"

Tsuna's eyes furrowed. "Gokudera-kun..."

"...No..." The pair looked at Masami. "Gokudera's right. You don't need to worry about me."

"But Masami-san..."

Masami grinned. "The agreement between Hibari and I... It's mutually beneficial."

"W-wha?" Tsuna sputtered, confused. He didn't see how her getting hurt on Hibari's behalf was mutually beneficial. His eyes widened. She was only calling him Hibari now. Not 'Hibari-san'. He was about to speak when Masami looked up with inquisitive eyes.

"How do I..." she started, childish features frowning. She was running out of time. "...do I impress someone like Hibari?"

* * *

"Who are you?" The baby asked to the dark figure. Reborn cocked his head. From the short cut of hair, he had first thought it was a man, but upon further inspection... The figure's body was slender and curved; the signs of a matured woman.

The person stepped out from beneath the shadows of the Sakura trees. Reborn was guessing the stranger to be about 5'8. He tilted his head. She was Japanese. He could tell from her short black hair which stuck to her scalp. _But her eyes..._ They were a dark green, like forest leaves, and he was instantly on guard. Could the woman possibly be from the mafia? Maybe half-Italian. It was likely from the way she confidently carried herself. He wasn't sure. It was times like these, he wished he looked a little older. The woman could just be relaxed because she was being confronted by a baby.

Green eyes calmly appraised the baby before her. She brightened and smiled.

"I'm looking for Mana, kid. Could you possibly point me in the right direction?" Reborn blinked. He had never heard of a student by that name.

The woman covered her mouth and cringed. "Crap. Oops. I wasn't supposed to say that," she giggled out. She frowned and then sighed. "I meant Masami. Sakata Masami."

Reborn raised an eyebrow. Maybe she wasn't from the mafia with that obvious mistake. He shrugged. Well, at least he had found out something else about Masami.

Or should he say Mana?_ Best to milk this for all its worth, _Reborn thought absentmindedly.

The woman's eyes widened as a gun was pointed at her. He could see it though. The way the woman's eyes had flickered to her side. She was already thinking of a way to dodge the bullet; the signs of a professional. Reborn smirked.

"I tried doing a background check on Sakata Masami." Reborn carefully gauged the woman's reaction. Though her mouth was curved up, he could see nothing that gave away her reaction in her eyes. "I couldn't find anything."

The woman nodded. "Well, that does make sense. I've also done a background check on the Vongola," she replied amicably. He frowned. The woman wasn't saying anything much. He had finally managed to stumble upon another clue about Sakata Masami, only... now he knew it wouldn't be easy to get anything out of this person. She looked too keen, too intelligent... too sly for Reborn to have any use for.

"You won't tell me anything, will you?" he finally said. He had broken their staring match.

The woman winked. "You got it."

The baby stared. He lowered the gun reluctantly. "Are you two a threat to the Vongola family?"

The young woman put a finger to her mouth contemplatively. "That girl... she probably doesn't even know what the Vongola is." She sat down beside Reborn, smiling. "Mm... because her previous caretaker was very protective of her. But if there's one thing I can assure you of, it's that she isn't a threat at all."

"And you?"

The woman smirked. "Can't say the same for me."

Reborn's paused and then smiled a little. He would trust her, for now. "And I don't suppose you're..."

The woman nodded. "Kouno Akane. Her present guardian."

* * *

_He looked at her thoughtfully. "Mana, you want another name?"_

_She blinked and put down her book. "Eh? Why would I want another name? Mana's fine." She breathed in sharply as he fingered a lock of her hair. She could feel it again. The blush on her cheeks._

_"It's so it'll be harder to find us. You don't see many Japanese girls named Mana, right?(1)" She couldn't argue with him there._

_"You can take my last name. Sakata. Sakata Masami." He turned to her. "Well?"_

_She looked away. "I really can't win against you, can I?" she grumbled. She couldn't help but return the smile he gave her with a redder blush._

_"...Rei."_

* * *

Masami's eyes snapped open. She sat up and looked outside to the orange sky. It was getting late.

"Ahhh..." Lethargically, she stretched her arms above her. She heard the distinct crack from her sore back. She looked at the clock on the classroom wall and her eyes widened. It was late.

"Oh crap," the girl breathed out. Masami remembered now. She had had to take a make-up test for her worst subject, math, and ended up staying after school. She bit her lip. She _also_ remembered she had decided to lie down on her desk for a while after the teacher had left and collected the test. Her little nap lasted longer than she expected...

_And I think I failed the stupid make-up test, _Masami thought, depressed. She was also terrible at English. If she didn't need to pass both of them to graduate, she would have quit them the first chance she got.

...

"Shoot!" Masami suddenly cried out. This was no time to be thinking about her marks.

She quickly stuffed her belongings in her book bag, hardly caring of the treatment she was putting them through and sprinted out the door. She ignored the ache in her ankle. It didn't hurt that much anymore. It was more annoyingly sore than painful now. She had been invited to Tsuna's house to have a barbecue to celebrate the near completion of the school year. It was still two weeks until summer started, but everyone had agreed there would be no time to properly celebrate within those two weeks because of exams. Masami resisted the urge to groan as she stepped out of the building.

Cramming and all-nighters would be making up the following weeks.

_I can hardly wait_, Masami thought sarcastically. She paused for a moment when a thought occurred to her.

What the heck did Hibari do then? She never saw him in class and she didn't see him during the mid-terms. Masami briefly contemplated whether it was because he was the Disciplinary Chairman. It was possible... Over the course of the year, she had witnessed firsthand how far the power of a middle school club extended in the town of Namimori. It was quite impressive she had to admit, albeit grudgingly. She wouldn't ever tell that to Hibari though. Masami could only imagine what that would do to his pride. She didn't want him being even _more_ proud of the committee than he already was.

Masami frowned. _It's more like I hate the way Hibari does things..._ She didn't hate the people. The majority of the members were much nicer than brown-haired girl had thought.

_And Hibari is also-_ Crap. Masami stopped walking. She was beginning to realize _it._ The fact that whenever she was thinking, a lot of it would be dedicated to Hibari. She bit her lip. When had she started unconsciously been doing that?

_After he... he saved me?_ No, it was even before that. Way before that. Masami crouched down on her haunches and put her head between her knees. When was it? When had her thoughts been dominated by a certain skylark?

"What the hell?" she said out loud. _Ugh..._ Maybe it was because she had always sort of respected him? She snapped her fingers. That was it. She was always thinking about him because she respected his strength. That was it. No strings attached. Masami laughed. _Glad I cleared that-_

"What are you doing?"

Masami turned and then jumped back a few feet. "Hi-Hibari!" The person in question raised an eyebrow. Masami could feel her cheeks turning red from embarrassment. Just now... she had been... The girl winced, imagining the expressions that had been on her face that had ranged from shock to anger.

How embarrassing.

"I was going home...?" Masami said awkwardly.

"School ended two hours ago." Hibari began to slowly walk towards her. Masami gulped, responding with his approach by a retreat. Even committee members weren't authorized to stay this late without a good reason.

She tittered nervously. "Teacher failed math test make-up!" she blurted out. Hibari paused. It took her a moment to realize what she had said. She winced. "I mean, I failed a math test, so the teacher made me do a make-up." Masami felt something behind her stopping her from backing up and looked behind.

It was a tree. A sakura tree.

Masami resisted the urge to swear. _My mortal enemy! First you injure my back and now you aid Hibari in trapping me?_ She was beginning to **_hate_** trees. Masami saw a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision and snapped her head back forward.

_When did he... _She grimaced. Hibari was standing over her. One of his arms rested against the tree above her head against the tree to support his weight as he hovered above her.

"Umm... Hibari, what are you doing?"

Hibari smirked. "No Hibari-_san_?" He leaned closer and she froze.

Masami snorted, albeit nervously. "If you can just call me 'girl', I should be able to call you 'Hibari'." She puffed up her chest bravely. The movement was noticed by Hibari and his eyes flickered down.

...

Masami felt her ears turning bright red. "Stop staring!" Him staring at her chest was happening one too many times.

"Hmph." Hibari looked away. _Thank god._

Masami scowled at his reaction. Shouldn't she be the offended one? She frowned. "I'll knee you where it hur-I...I mean...!"

Hibari had put a hand around her neck. It was a loose grip, but Masami knew it could tighten at any time. She gulped down the anxious lump in her throat. Masami was aware that if Hibari _did _kill her, he would probably have the committee dump her body somewhere. And most likely nobody would find out.

The committee. It was fearful.

"What did you mean?" Hibari asked mockingly, amused at her apparent fear of him.

Masami stared at the cocky grin on the prefect's face and felt the fear in her disappear.

"I _mean_ that I_** will**_ knee you. And I hope it hits you," Masami deadpanned. She suddenly smiled sweetly. "Hibari-_san_."

Hibari's eyes narrowed. Her eyes, in turn, widened. His hand around her throat was traveling lower. Masami knew her face was a deep red now.

"What the hell are you doi-" she began angrily. His intentions became clear when he finally had a firm hold of the silver chain around her neck and pulled. Instinctively, her hand wrapped itself around the gem as the delicate clasp broke. Hibari frowned.

"Let go." He had stopped pulling. "Necklaces are a hazard in the school."

Masami's jaw dropped. _WHAT?_ "How are they?" she asked, still holding onto the gem.

"Garrotting (2)," he answered. She felt her jaw drop even more.

"G-Garrotting? I'm not going to wrap it around someone's neck. What kind of person do you think I am?" The question was rhetorical, but Hibari answered it anyway.

"A emotional weakling who acts on how she feels," he stated in monotone.

Masami flinched at his biting words. "...Hypocrite," she spat out as she tugged on the necklace. "Almost every time I see you, you're hurting someone. Aren't _you _the one acting on your emotions most of the time?"

Masami's eyes widened as Hibari suddenly pushed her against the tree, their torsos touched._ AHHH! _She could feel unexpected warmness filtering onto her front. She would have thought Hibari would be a little... colder. That would have fit much better with his personality.

"The difference between you and me..." Masami stiffened as he felt his hot breath in her ear. "...is that I'm strong."

Hibari pulled back to observe Masami's expression. She was doing her best to look _anywhere_ except at his face. A shade of pink was splashed across her pale cheeks. His previously free hand was now holding her against the tree and it tightened around her arm as she struggled against him. Masami glared furiously at his shoulder. She knew that if took a look at his face that she may faint. Her heart was going too quickly.

From fear? Or maybe something else.

"I'm not weak!" Masami exclaimed. "And having emotions is a lot better than not caring about anything. You don't care about anything except for Namimori, do you, Hibari?" She glared intensely at his shoulder, trying to burn a hole through it. He didn't answer. Hibari kept the silver chain twisted between his fingers as he brought a hand to her cheek. She flinched at the cold metal against her skin and bit her lip. She still was refusing to make eye contact. Aggravated, Hibari grabbed her chin and turned her head so she was looking at him.

His half-lidded eyes stared intensely into Masami's own bright ones. "Don't disobey me."

...

Crap... She didn't even have anything to say to that. Her heart was distracting her too much. Masami could feel her heart thumping like crazy. It _had_ to be the fear of having to let go of the necklace if Hibari succeeded in taking it from her and the nervousness at his closeness. She was going to _die_ if he did anything else, just simply from her heart fluttering.

_Hmm?_ Masami watched, wide-eyed as Hibari suddenly pulled back and frowned. She raised an eyebrow in confusion, but was sincerely grateful he had let go of the necklace's chain. Just in case, she put it into her pocket right at the moment he turned around.

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

Masami blinked. _I'm Masami...?_

"Ooh... That's _really _nice!" a voice exclaimed.

Masami's eyes widened. _This voice..._ Tentatively, she looked past Hibari and felt her breath stop.

"You...?"

* * *

**Edit (August 6): **Yay, my birthday! Haha, but that isn't the reason for this edit. Thanks to** Rainord-deechin** for reviewing and telling me where I got the idea from this chapter from. And also thank you because now I remember the name and can start reading it again! XD It's from a manga called _Oresama Teacher_.

**(1): **Just to clarify for any one who points out this, saying Masami isn't Japanese. She is. She's 110 percent Japanesee! And no, she can't speak any language other than Japanese... which shall all be elaborated on later. :D **(2):** Wrapping a string, cord, rope, etc... around someone's neck with an intent to strangle them.

A/N: I'm sorry for the cliffy! I couldn't do anything for the whole week due to my internet not working. Just got it back yesterday. I'm sorry for not answering anything and practically being dead for the week.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Chase**

_"He **isn't **my boyfriend."_

_**"I'll try my best to stay out of your life."**_

___"How about we play a game?"_

___**"Hibari hadn't been hugging me at all!"**_


	9. Chase

**A/N: T**hank you to** DatAznKid**,** stuffedninja101**, **Chocolate Ribbons**, **ausumist**,** hiyomi**,** fuwacchi** and **Sheepoa** for reviewing. Your reviews keep me going! :D  
**O**h, Akane isn't an active character. I'll try to make her as obscure as possible. And, for some darned reason, two separate words keep sticking together at odd parts in the story. I can't look over the chapter more carefully right now, but I'll do it later today. Sorry~  
**T**hanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 9: Chase**

"Yo!" The woman greeted cheerfully, raising a hand. Masami remembered to breathe after Hibari turned to look at the other woman.

"A-Ah... hi..." That was all she could manage. After all, she hadn't seen the woman for about a year. Kouno Akane. Her guardian. A woman who she'd only seen on and off for a few years since she was 11. It was really because of the woman that Masami had had to move around constantly and why she learned to become independent, having to often live on her own while Akane was doing god knows what.

Masami bit her lip. "What are you doing here?" She stiffened as the woman practically skipped towards her. Masami gagged as she was suddenly hugged, the momentum making her hit her head against the tree.

"OW!"

"Just wanted to see how you were doing, of course! I'm not busy for the summer so I thought I would stay here!" Even as Akane was saying this, Masami could clearly see the 'We need to talk' expression which only her eyes could see. Masami frowned and opened her mouth to speak.

"Only Nami Middle students and teachers are allowed on school grounds."

_Wait, why does my voice sound like a boy's?_ Masami inwardly slapped her forehead. That was Hibari's voice! Right! Why were her thoughts so muddled right now?

Akane grinned evilly which could only be seen by Masami. The girl involuntarily shuddered, an image of a smirking Reborn popped into her head.

"Visitor's pass~" Akane sang out as she flashed a bright green laminated card around her neck. The woman's smile was saccharine as Hibari glared at her. Masami gulped. The tension in the air was palpable. And she was the person in the middle of it._ T-The two people whom I didn't want to have met have met each other..._ Hibari was quick to anger and Akane could be terribly annoying if she wanted to be.

Akane blinked and tilted her head. "What were you two doing?" She gasped. "Could it be one of those illicit affairs like in the dramas?" Of course a drama fanatic would come up with such a _ridiculous _notion.

"NO!" Masami yelled out. It wasn't that at all. What was with everyone implying she had a close relationship with Hibari?

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "I'll bite you to death," he stated caustically. Masami's eyes widened as Akane jumped out of the way of Hibari's attack, making her the next possible victim of Hibari.

_...Eek..._ The force behind the swinging tonfa was evident. The weapon had dug into the bark of the tree, right beside Masami's head._ This. Is. __**Bad. **_Masami felt like she was going to black out any second now. Not from fear but more so from the fact that Hibari was so close to her again.

Their eyes met for a brief moment before Hibari pulled out his tonfa out of the bark and headed towards Akane, who was a few feet away and eying the scene with great interest. The infuriating woman dodged again, chuckling while doing so...

and headed straight for Masami.

_EHHH? _A surprised Masami felt the woman wrap her hand around Masami's wrist and began to run to the school gates.

Masami's eyes were wide and shone with slight fear and surprise. "Akane-san!"

The woman grinned and looked behind her. Hibari wasn't chasing them. "We'll meet again, Hibari-kun!" Masami's eyes widened. She ignored how the wind was messing up her hair as they ran out of the school and frowned.

"How did you know his name was Hibari?" Masami half-shouted. She could feel her lungs struggling to get enough air again.

"I met a little baby by the name of Reborn," Akane replied. "He told me that your boyfriend was someone by the name of Hibari Kyoya. I just put two and two together when I saw you two."

Masami's first thought was to curse the little baby. Her second action was to blush and stammer out, "He isn't my boyfrien-CAR!" Masami screeched as they ran out onto the streets and were almost hit by a car. The car honked angrily as it drove past._ The freaking light was green!_ Masami thought. Was her guardian colour-blind or something?

Akane seemed to know what Masami was thinking before she could voice her complaint. "It's nice living on the edge sometimes, brat!"

"Too close..." Pant. "to the edge..." Masami managed to wheeze out.

* * *

"Why are you here?" Masami asked as she set the cup of tea down in front of Akane. Akane's lashes lowered as she looked down at the tea. It was her favourite brand of green tea. "I'll try to stay out your life then, Mana."

Masami's eyes widened before she cringed. "I mean, you can stay as long as you want! I was just wondering why you're here! You always seem so busy!" She waved her hands comically just to emphasize her point.

Akane blinked before bursting into laughter. "You really are so cute, Mana, but I have some stuff to do around Namimori so I won't be in your hair too much." She gave a cursory glance to her cramped surroundings before frowning. "And I won't be staying in this dingy apartment with you either."

"Don't call me that stupid name." She twitched at Akane's insult. "Where will you be staying then?"

Akane smirked. "A hotel near that shopping district."

It took Masami a long while to register that. "I... I thought we were poor..." There **had** to a reason for why she was eating cup noodles every day for dinner.

"Oh no. I just like spending money on myself, that's all," Akane explained in an offhanded manner. She ignored the shocked stare from her young charge and sighed, making the younger girl look at her curiously.

"Have you gotten the thing Rei left?" Masami looked away guiltily and Akane's eyes narrowed. "Months... you've had months! I know he put those papers somewhere in that school. What the hell, Mana...?"

The girl flinched before stiffening. "Don't call me that." She could feel the floodgates of anger opening as she remembered all the times previously that she had asked the woman not to call her by that name. Their relationship had only gotten worse ever since his death. "If you really want to get the papers, then you should try helping..." she trailed off, already knowing Akane's answer.

Akane gulped the whole cup down, ignoring the burning sensation on her tongue. "Stupid girl..." she said scornfully. "He left it for you, not me. I'm not about to interfere with completing an easy task for you." Masami frowned. Akane's eyes softened, remembering for a moment when Masami was younger. She spoke more gently. "I'm worried about those people finding us. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"I don't want to leave here," Masami blurted out childishly. She knew Akane only wanted to keep her safe, but... she had made... friends here. It was the longest time staying in one place. And, though Masami would never admit it..._ I...I don't mind that much being in the committee_.

Akane noticed Masami blushing and scoffed. "Are you thinking about Hibari-kun?"

Masami blinked, confused. "...What?"

Akane sighed. "As dense as ever, aren't you, Mana?" Masami deflated, giving up on the thought Akane would ever stop calling her that. "I heard from Reborn that you two slept in this little dinky apartment together. Did anything happen?"

"...I lost some brain cells that day...?" Masami informed slowly. She twitched at Akane's disappointed flat look._ What else was she expecting?_

The flat look disappeared as soon as it came as Akane threw herself at Masami. "Aah... as cute as always, Mana. I can't believe someone your age could be so innocent socially." She winked. "Guys become total beasts when put into a small space with a girl. Best to remember that now."

Masami blinked blankly at Akane. "Uhh... okay..."

They sat in peaceful silence for a while until Akane started nudging Masami. Masami almost rolled her eyes but couldn't help but forgive Akane's cutting words as she smiled. The woman really was bi-polar. "You've finally forgotten about your little crush on Rei, ne?

Masami raised an eyebrow. "I didn't like him in that way...," she said, ignoring Akane's snort. "As for forgetting..." she looked out at the darkening sky from her apartment window.

"I won't ever forget him."

Akane paused to look at Masami's distant gaze before sighing. She could feel the distance between them growing because... the glue that held them together had already died long ago.

* * *

The girl was acting strange.

What tipped off Hibari wasn't the fact that she hadn't greeted Kusakabe when the prefect had waved to her nor when she bumped into the closed door of the Reception Room before coming in or even when she ran into the couch and did a somersault to land on her backside to land perfectly on the seat of the couch. She was always a little air-headed.

What tipped him off was when she leaned in almost eagerly, hair dishevelled and eyes_ suspiciously _bright to proclaim to him, "We need to talk." Hibari stopped writing in his neat handwriting and slowly put the pen down to look up at the girl, her hands bunching up in her skirt as she looked at him anxiously.

"Make it quick."

"Storeroom," she replied _quickly_, just like Hibari just told her to.

His eyes narrowed. "Try to be funny one more time and I'll bite you to death, herbivore."

Masami sighed, exasperated. "I want access to the storeroom." She leaned in so much that she was practically about to fall off the couch. "Surely I've done at least_ one_ impressive thing to warrant me access, Hibari."

A brief image of her courageously jumping out off the old factory building window flashed into his mind as well as when she bravely stood up to him for those latecomers.

"..."

Masami perked up. "Does that mean yes?" she asked cheerfully, meanwhile grinning.

"No."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Why?"_ You goddamn picky bastard! _She managed to leave the last bit out.

"You'll leave once you find what you're looking for," he stated. There was no clip at the end of his sentence to indicate it was a question, but Masami noticed that he worded his questions as statements most of the time.

"Yes," she told him truthfully. Masami mildly contemplated how he would be happy once she was gone. Unbeknown to her, it was the opposite.

"Then no."

...

Masami nodded. "All right then." She stood up. "I shall be going now, Hibari-san. I will be seeing you later then. Good day." His eyes narrowed. Why had she suddenly decided to re-add the suffix to his name? And why was she speaking so politely?

_Jingle._

...Uhh...

"Dammit!" Masami cursed. The keys just _had _to jingle when she stood up, didn't they? Masami darted out the room, knowing that in mere moments, Hibari would be on her heels to take back the keys that she had snatched the day before from his desk.

_That'll teach him not leave his drawers unlocked around me, the fool..._ she thought evilly. She grimaced as she nearly tripped._ Well, it's not like I didn't ask him. He's making me desperate..._she thought defensively._ Desperate times call for desperate measures!_ Masami almost crashed into the wall on the next turn in the school. Instead, her hands went up in front of her, preventing a very _painful_ body slam to the wall. She winced, knowing that gave Hibari_ another _second to catch up to her.

"Move, move, move!" Masami repeated under her breath. It was times like these that she cursed the size of the school. Not only having several buildings, but also how the main building was so damn huge! She felt her breath leaving her, but struggled on. Hibari would_ kill_ her if he got a hold of her.

_One more hallway..._she thought as she jumped three steps off the stairs to end up on the second floor of the school. Masami looked behind her and blinked. Hibari and his tonfas weren't behind her as expected. She squeezed the keys cautiously

_Maybe he didn't follow me..._ Masami stood in front of the storage room door. Even though she was pretty sure he hadn't, she still tried her best to move quickly. She pursed her lips, closing her eyes and forcing herself to calm down.

Masami only had one hand on the batch of keys that hung on the waistband of her skirt before it was intercepted by another hand. Her hand was slammed against the door as she was forced to turn around. She looked up to see Hibari glaring down at her coldly.

_...Maybe he did follow me...Ugh... _Masami gave him a thoroughly disgruntled look before frowning.

"...You... You started it," Masami exclaimed, struggling to get his grip off her. His hand tightened around her wrist in response.

Hibari sneered, amused. "How?"

Masami looked down, unable to keep his gaze any longer. "Erm..." How would he react if she told him it was his fault because he was an overall bastard? She gulped. Maybe she would keep that to herself. Hibari's eyes glazed over at the slightly irritated expression on her face.

"You're an open book." He could see all her emotions just by taking a look at her face. Most likely, she was cursing him at the moment.

Masami bit her lip. "I'm not," she denied, ignoring the niggling fact in her mind that Akane and Rei had told her the exact same thing on two separate occasions.

Hibari stepped back an inch. "How about we play a game right now?" She blinked, confused. "If you don't show an expression on your face, no matter what I do, I'll let you have the key."

Masami perked up. How naive. "Really?" She was looking at his shoulder again.

Hibari smirked and tilted her chin up so she was facing him. "Really," he whispered, amused by how her straight face belied the red flush on her cheeks.

She nodded before pulling away. There wasn't enough room between her and the wall and him. The most she could do was slap away his hand.

"All right. One minute then," she stated, smiling sweetly. "Do your best." Hibari's eyes gleamed with confidence.

Masami's eyes widened as he pulled back and looked down at her coolly. What was he doing? She thought he would try to intimidate her by getting into her personal space, though she_ was _glad he had chosen to pull back. She may have lost their little game right away if he hadn't. She was so anxious and wondered what he was thinking.

Hibari was staring at her intensely. Masami frowned and felt irked at his scrutiny. "What?"

"You aren't afraid of me," he said.

She raised an eyebrow. It was one of his questions-in-the-form-of-a-statement again. "..."

"Answer me, or I'll bite you to death."

Masami scoffed. Yeah right. She doubted he really would. Lately, Hibari hadn't been hurting her. In fact, this was the first threat he had made since before that kidnapping incident._ Still..._ Masami looked at him apprehensively. _It's better to be safe than sorry._

"Uhh... sort of...?" She flinched at his expectant glare. "You seem less scary every time I'm with you." Was it because she was used to his moodiness? Or more rather him in general. "If you let me into the storage room, I can quit the committee, get 'un-used' to you and then go back to slowly fearing you again?" she suggested happily. Hibari's eyes narrowed.

_...I guess that means no..._ Masami sighed. "I'm going to win, you know, at the rate you're going." What was it now? Thirty seconds. So far, Operation: Blank Face was going according to plan._ The key is mine!_ she thought gleefully.

Hibari shrugged. "That's all I wanted to know." He smirked.

...

_Ahh...!_ Hibari had boxed her in against the wall, arms at either side of her head and effectively caging her in.

"Admitting defeat?" he questioned as Masami's features wobbled. She wouldn't be defeated as easily as this. No way!

"No," she shot back, a little too quickly.

"Hmph."

A muffled 'eek!' made its way past her lips as he put his cool hand against her cheek.

"Now?"

Oh crap. Masami could feel her heart racing. She was close to panicking, but steeled her resolve._ I need the key._

"Nope," she said blankly. "10 seconds, Hibari."_ In your face!_

Hibari's eyes narrowed and Masami resisted the urge to let out a gleeful laugh.

"I'm not losing," he whispered into her ear. Before Masami could reply, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. Hibari was... hugging her? He had pulled her up slightly, making her stand up on her tippy-toes. Had he gotten taller? She could feel her ears heat up as she felt Hibari rest his head at the nape of her neck. It was ticklish. His eyelashes were making the skin under them tingle strangely and she blushed as she felt his steady breathing against her collar bone.

"Now," he stated confidently and pulled back to see her shocked face staring at him incredulously.

Hibari backed away from Masami who slowly slid down the wall. Masami slowly looked up to see Hibari holding the ring of keys and smirking. She gaped. How had he gotten the keys?

Realization washed over her like an icy shower. _No. Freaking. Way. Pervert!_ He must have slipped his hand under her untucked shirt to get the keys, which had been hanging on her skirt waistband.

_He hadn't been hugging me at all!_

Hibari put his lips to the keys. "I win."

She looked away quickly._ Dammit. _"S-shut up," she bit out, still blushing.

* * *

Akane had found a friend in Reborn. Or at least someone as devious as her. She sipped the can of beer in her hands and sighed. They were both more or less leaning against a wall outside. The air was cool and comfortable and she was beginning to feel the buzz from the alcohol.

"So..." Reborn began. Akane looked down at her companion. "You don't seem to like Masami all too much." He had noticed that Akane was always antagonizing the child-like teenager. The others had thought of it as a friendly sisterly relationship, but Reborn was a lot more keener than the others. Akane didn't answer, but Reborn knew she had heard because she had tilted her head contemplatively. Reborn frowned. She wasn't going to answer, was she? He sighed and took a swig of the small can of beer in his tiny hands.

"I was forced to make a promise to keep Mana safe," she spoke slowly, quietly. "By her previous caretaker, Rei, right before he got himself killed." She caught his stare. "And no, you annoying little shit. I'm not telling you anything about Rei or Mana. At least not now I'm not." The baby blinked, but said nothing. Though he was itching to pull out his gun because of her calling him a 'little shit'. What a mean lady. His eyes widened minutely as Akane gave him a small smile.

"Isn't that a bit cruel? I hadn't thought he could be as conniving like that." She saw a shooting star in the sky.

"...Since he knew I loved him as much as he did towards Mana."

Reborn tilted his head contemplatively; a classic love triangle. A question occurred to him.

"Did Masami feel the same about him?" Akane snorted, looking down drunkenly at the last of her can of beer.

"Yeah, but I don't think she realized it. She's pretty dense with this love shit, being the type of person not to realize she's in love until it starts pissing everyone off." She gulped down the last of the alcohol. "In fact, she still does love him. I doubt she'll fall in love with anyone ever again." She pushed herself off the wall only to trip back into it. Her head felt so woozy...

Reborn smirked. "Don't count the Vongola boys out yet, Akane," he said as he thought of two of the most well-known male students of Namimori Middle though for completely different reasons.

Akane raised an eyebrow. "Boysss?" she questioned, purposely putting an emphasis to the 's'. She only knew of that Hibari kid.

Reborn nodded and proceeded to explain some exciting entertainment that could very well happen in the future.

* * *

A/N: Updates may or may not become **BI-WEEKLY** from now on. The reason is I've slowed down on writing a lot. On that note, please review and tell me what you thought of it! They fuel my passion to write and passion.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Next Chapter: Triangles**

_"You're in love, Yamamoto-kun?"_

**_"I'm going to kill that fucking prefect_**_.**"**_

_"There's a summer festival in August."_

_**"I'm not going to give up on her."**_

_"It's unacceptable to take what's mine..."_


	10. Triangles

**A/N:** 13 reviews! This is one of those rare cases where I'm glad to get the famed unlucky number. ^ ^; Thank you to** DarkRoadHina**, **DatAznKid**,** Chocolate Ribbons**, **hiyomi**,** Dante96**,** stuffedninja101** (two times!), **ausumist**, **erika mae**, **IceRose84528**, **Jean**, **SnowieG27** and **Sheepoa** for reviewing! You guys and all of my reviewers rock my socks off! :)

Thank you to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!

* * *

**Possession  
Chapter 10: Triangles**

"Well, I think that's everything!" Akane's hands were on her hips as she looked enthusiastically at the waiting shuttle bus in front of her. The doors of the vehicle was open. She took a few steps forward to see a grumpy-looking bus driver staring back at her. She gestured to the storage compartments located at the bottom of the bus. The driver grunted and pushed the button. The doors opened with a hiss. The middle-aged bus driver noticed the pile of bags behind the woman.

"Do you need help with those bags, miss?" Though it wasn't required in his job description to put bags in, he did see that judging by the woman's slender frame that she wouldn't be able to carry the bags easily.

Akane waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, it's fine. I have help for that." She snapped her fingers with a flourish. "Mana! Get out from under there!" she hollered, turning expectantly at the pile. The bus driver's eyes widened as the pile of bags began moving. To his surprise, a little girl came crawling out from under the humongous pile, gasping for breath.

Akane caught the shocked expression on the bus driver's face. "Oh no! She's fine. Perfectly all right. I'll be on the bus in a minute or two," she said to him and walked to the girl with a small sway in her hips. The bus driver gulped as he watched the woman saunter to her luggage before remembering that he had a wife and two kids at home.

...

Akane frowned. "Lazing around on the job, huh, Mana?" Masami stood up quickly, patting the dust off her clothes. She proceeded to glare at the woman who was smiling sweetly at her.

"I collapsed from exhaustion because _you_ forced me to carry all your damn bags." They were at the only bus station that led out of Namimori. One thing led to another and she and Akane had ended up walking all the way to the bus station instead of taking a taxi. Akane had said something along the lines of, "It's a wonderful day. What a shame it would be not to stay out as much as possible." The problem was that Masami was left with carrying all the bags when Akane threatened not to send anymore money for rent or food if she didn't.

Akane nodded amicably. "Yes, yes. We _could _blame this on me but we won't." She ignored Masami's bewildered face before turning around to point at the bus. "Right then. We must start putting my luggage into the bus. And by 'we', I mean you. Hop to it now! Put that manly strength to good use now."

"Whatever..." Masami scowled but nonetheless carried most of the bags and started for the bus's external compartments. "I'm not carrying the rest," she called out to Akane who was happily carrying the rest of the luggage: two light carry-on bags.

"I don't mind," Akane chirped as she walked over to the girl who was shoving the bags into the bus with a passion. Masami turned to Akane.

"...That's it," Masami said. She shuffled around a bit before looking up at Akane who was walking to the bus doors. "A...Akane-san!" Akane swerved around and tilted her head.

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know. This family's paying me well and the mission's pretty dangerous this time." Akane caught Masami's worried stare. "...Don't worry about it, brat. I won't die or anything. If it gets too dangerous, I'll just give up. I always put my life before money or anyone else's," she stated sweetly.

Masami sweatdropped at Akane's vain statement. Excuse her for worrying for Akane then. "Stay safe then..." Masami said awkwardly.

"You too! Have fun and make sure you don't lose that necklace." Akane cocked her head. "You're looking a little older to me." Masami put a hand on her necklace self-consciously.

Akane waved, one foot on the bus step. "Have a normal life! I'll be back to check on you in a while!" was the woman's enigmatic parting farewell. The bus doors closed and Masami could only wave back soundlessly. She watched the bus drive away for a few seconds before looking up at the blue sky. She had to admit it was sort of a nice day. Masami smiled lightly. She was sort of going to miss-

A loud call interrupted Masami's internal monologue.

"Looking up at the sky like those people in the dramas is laaamee!" Masami gaped. Akane had opened the window and was snickering at her. "Oh! I almost forgot! GET A BOYFRIEND!"

Masami could feel her face turning red from embarrassment.

"JUST GO ALREADY!"

* * *

Yamamoto yawned. "Aaah... The last day of school. I think it'll go by quick. Right, Tsuna?"he asked cheerfully to the shorter boy beside him.

"Yeah..." Tsuna said absendmindedly. He cringed at Masami and Gokudera, who were shouting at each other again.

"Those two sure do get along well!" Yamamoto exclaimed. Tsuna frowned worriedly. The pair had now completely stopped and were just glaring at each other.

Tsuna sighed heavily. "Let's catch up to them Yamamoto." Who knows what could happen with those two. It was kind of ominous how neither of them was speaking.

"All right," he agreed. They caught up to them soon enough. Tsuna reluctantly put himself between them.

"Guys... let's just walk to school, ok? No more fighting. Please?" The two contestants of the staring contest broke each other's gaze to look down at Tsuna.

Gokudera grinned cheerfully. "Of course, Juudaime!"

"Sorry about that Tsunayoshi-kun," Masami grumbled. It was all well and peaceful and _silent_. Their walk to school would have continued to be uneventful if a certain silver-haired dork hadn't opened his mouth.

"I hate that lady more than I do you," Gokudera deadpanned suddenly.

Masami paused in her walking and pursed her lips as she stared flatly at Gokudera. She had wanted to start off the last day of school well. Gokudera wasn't helping.

"I hate you too," Masami answered, not meaning it, but hoping it sounded as bitter as his. "Akane-san is... eccentric." _I guess, _she thought. She really had no idea how to describe the older woman's tendencies. "She isn't in Namimori anymore so you can relax."

"Eh? She isn't?" Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief once Masami shook her head. Thank god that lady was gone. "I...I don't think 'eccentric' is the right word to describe Akane-san..." Tsuna trailed off, his thoughts wandering to when everyone had gone to his house for the B.B.Q. She had tried to set his hair on fire with a burning marshmallow. Tsuna sighed. He had Reborn doing enough of those sorts of things. He didn't want some person he had just met trying to kill him too.

Yamamoto laughed. "Haha, she's pretty funny! She called me a triangle!" The other three stared at him weirdly.

"A triangle, Yamamoto?" Tsuna repeated, incredulous. _What did that even mean?_

The taller boy grinned. "Yeah!"

Gokudera scowled. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Tsuna grimaced at Gokudera's bluntness.

"Hahaha, I have no idea! That's why it was funny!"

"You stupid baseball fre-!"

"It means you're part of a love triangle, I think."

The three boys turned to see Masami looking at the sky contemplatively. She turned to them and grinned. "Akane-san is a total drama fanatic, so I'm guessing Yamamoto is in love." She smiled jokingly. Masami's eyes widened as none of the other three spoke.

"No way!" She hopped up to Yamamoto. "You're in love, Yamamoto-kun? With who? Why didn't you tell me?" Was she the last person to know? From the silence, Masami could tell Gokudera and Tsuna already knew. Yamamoto looked away from Masami's inquisitive doe eyes and laughed, but it wasn't the usual happy familiar sound Masami was used to. She could detect a tinge of... sadness mixed in. Masami squinted thoughtfully. Why did he seem so depressed all of sudden?

Yamamoto smiled, oblivious to Masami who was staring at him intensely. "...I don't think she really feels the same for me."

Masami's eyes widened. Is _that_ why? Well, now it made sense why his smile looked a bit strange. She clenched her fist. She was going to cheer him up.

"Then you have to woo her! Go 100- no! 200% at it!" Masami suddenly grabbed Yamamoto's hand, to which all three boys reacted by sporting shocked expressions. "Do your best!" she exclaimed, grinning and holding his larger hand in both her own smaller ones. Masami frowned when Yamamoto didn't speak. She couldn't even tell what he was thinking because his eyes were hidden by a shadow. Tsuna set his mouth in a line. He sympathised with Yamamoto. 

_Unrequited love I know all too much_, Tsuna admitted painfully, thinking of Kyoko.

"...Yamamoto-kun..." What was wrong? _Was it something I said?_ That seemed to snap Yamamoto out of it. He grinned at his three friends.

"I just remembered! I have classroom duties today! I have to go ahead, guys!" He let go of Masami's hands, albeit reluctantly. "I'll see you all later." Before anyone could say anything, Yamamoto ran ahead.

"What's wrong with Yamamoto?" she asked out loud, but not really expecting an answer. He was usually so cheerful...

"Don't worry too much about it, Masami," Tsuna exclaimed. He didn't want Masami stressing over Yamamoto's problem, concerning her nonetheless, when she had to worry about her work and..._ Most importantly, Hibari-san,_ Tsuna thought. He already knew that she always got work from the head prefect, which was always one of the reasons why sometimes she could never go out with them.

Gokudera dropped his burnt cigarette and crushed it with his heel. "Yeah, just worry about appeasing master Hibari, Pet-san," he said nonchalantly as he lit up another cigarette.

Tsuna gaped at his friend. _G-Gokudera-kun! You weren't supposed to tell her that!_ He had even specifically told Gokudera not to when he had confided in him about Reborn's hypothesis. The boy slapped his forehead. He lifted his head to look wearily at Masami.

For some reason, Tsuna could hear the sound of a bomb ticking.

"Pet?" Masami's voice repeated. Masami turned around very slowly, eyes slowly brightening with realization.

_"Guys become total beasts when put into a small space with a girl. Best to remember that now."_

_"Guys become total beasts when put into a small space with a __**girl**__."_

...

Tsuna stumbled away as he suddenly felt a dark aura surround Masami. Even Gokudera stepped back a bit, wide-eyed. The silver-haired boy was even too surprised to realize his beloved boss had fallen to the ground. Neither of them had ever seen her angry, let alone _this_ angry.

The demonic look in her eyes was. _not_. **good**.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, Gokudera," Masami said softly.

Tsuna cringed as he got up. "Y-yes, Masami-san?"

"I'm going ahead..." Tsuna nodded, meanwhile wondering what the heck she was going to do-? Masami turned around suddenly, eyes flashing with rage.

"...to kill that_** fucking**_ prefect."

Oh.

* * *

Complete unadulterated rage. That was the only thing Kusakabe could feel from the tiny girl as he held her back from maiming their leader, who was staring at the raging female with a bored look on his face.

Kusakabe winced as he felt Masami accidentally hit her chin with the back of her own head. He was struggling to keep her from pouncing, which was surprising since one of his skills was his superior strength. Kusakabe had to reluctantly admit that he was even stronger than the chairman in terms of raw strength._ Yet I am..._

"Let go of me, Kusakabe-san!" Masami hollered as she managed to free one of her arms. "I have to _kill_ him!

_...I'm struggling with holding back a little girl..._ This couldn't be good for his self-esteem. "I'll do that when you calm down, Masami-san," he said amicably. Wait. "Why are you so angry?"

"I'm not a pet!" Masami spat out at a sleepy Hibari. She didn't even know why she was angry. _I'm a... a pet..._ For some reason, she could feel a pang in her chest at the thought of Hibari not thinking of her as a girl at all. Why was that? Hibari yawned, distracting her from her thoughts.

"You're like a little animal," he admitted. "You haven't proven that fact wrong yet."

"I'm... a girl..." she bit out slowly as if she was speaking to a child. Hibari's eyes narrowed and he stood up from his seat with a lazy air about him. Kusakabe's eyes widened. The chairman was getting angry. Masami smirked, fury overriding rational thought.

"Of course, I would expect someone like you to mistake me for a pet," she said, implying he was stupid. She didn't notice him scowling and pulling out his tonfas. "I guess there's a reason for a repeat of this year-" Masami's eyes widened as she was pulled back just in time to avoid a hit from Hibari. The same luck couldn't be applied to the few strands of her hair that had been cut off. She looked behind her. Kusakabe had pulled her back.

"Th-thank you, Kusakabe-san." Masami smiled. Kusakabe hadn't meant to pull her back. It had been done on reflex, but he couldn't help but return her smile.

"It was no problem, Masami-san."

"Kusakabe Tetsuya." The pair looked to Hibari, who was glaring furiously at them. "You're going to take that girl's side?" Kusakabe's eyes widened before he cringed. "No! Of course not, chairman!"

"Kusakabe-san..." The vice-chairman looked down to see Masami staring at him sadly. "You won't...?" she asked softly. Masami probably didn't realize it, but she had pouted and was looking at him with big, glassy doe eyes.

Kusakabe gulped. "It's... it's not that Masami-san, it's just that..." he trailed off. Wait. Why was he even getting into the middle of their quarrel anyway!

Needless to say, Hibari, who was witnessing her unintentional 'cute' act was much displeased. Hibari stepped forward and brandished his tonfas. "Kusakabe Tetsuya, prepare to be bitten to death." He glared at his subordinate reproachfully.

Masami stepped away from Kusakabe. "Tch," she looked away, disappointed. "I thought I could rely on you at times like this, Kusakabe-san."

Wait a minute...

Kusakabe looked between a sad Masami and an angry Hibari. They had completely forgotten their fight and were now directing all their negative feelings towards him!

_These two are amazing..._ he thought. _...In the sense that they're both are upset with me now!_

He looked at Hibari. _I'm going to be killed..._

He looked at Masami. _Making Masami-san sad doesn't sit well with me either..._

Kusakabe's saviour came in the form of a little baby.

"Ciaossu!" Reborn entered to the room with a surprising scene in front of him: Masami and Hibari standing in front of Kusakabe with reproachful looks in their eyes. He jumped up into Masami's arms. "Hibari, Masami," he greeted.

"Baby," Hibari acknowledged.

"Reborn-san..." Masami said uneasily. She never saw the baby in the Reception Room. When he did something unexpected, it usually meant he was planning something that wouldn't really be in everyone's best interests.

"What's going on?" Reborn asked, surprisingly innocent.

Masami's eyes narrowed upon remembering. She pointed a finger at the blank-faced Hibari. "_He_... doesn't think I'm a girl!"

"You don't look your age," Hibari coolly shot back.

Reborn nodded agreeably. "You do evoke this pet-type of feeling, Masami." He ignored Masami's spluttering. "Why do you care so much of what Hibari thinks of you anyway?" Three pairs of eyes stared at her patiently for her answer.

Masami could feel her face turning red. _It's the rage! My face is turning red because I'm angry!_ She didn't want to admit she was upset Hibari didn't think of her as a girl (which she still didn't understand why she was so angry about). So, Masami said the first thing that popped into her head.

"The word 'pet' makes you think our relationship is dirty!" she blurted out.

...

"What? What?" Kusakabe repeated, incredulous. "M-Masami-san..."

Reborn was giving her a 'I could have fun with this' smirk.

Hibari...

Masami frowned at Hibari. He hadn't reacted at all. His expression and eyes were completely unreadable._ Oh crap._ She felt her blood turn cold. _What the heck did I just say?_

"Heh." Reborn blinked. "There will be the summer festival in August. I heard the committee will be supervising the event."

"What's your point, infant?" Hibari asked, suspicious.

Reborn smiled. "That is the time of yukatas. I'll make sure Masami goes to it in one. She'll look very much like a girl then. But you'll have to excuse her from her duties, all right, Hibari?"

Masami's eyes widened. What exactly was Reborn's objective? Hibari didn't say anything for a while. He turned to Masami who flinched but kept his gaze. 

_Remember Masami. Never look away from a predator. It could attack you if you do._ He smirked suddenly, making Masami blink in confusion.

"Fine."

Reborn let out a satisfied sound. "All right then."

* * *

"Nice weather," Reborn pointed out, observing the sunny sky. He was held snugly in Masami's arms as she walked to the school gates. After Reborn and Hibari had exchanged a few more words, the school day had gone on as usual, but he stayed behind on purpose so he could speak with Masami.

"Mm..." Masami hummed out, looking ahead and trying not to be nervous. Whenever she and Reborn were alone, she noticed whatever he wanted to talk to her about wouldn't be good.

"Did Akane leave?" he asked, curious.

Masami could feel suspicion well up inside her but chose to brush it off. "Yesterday. I don't know when I'll see her again. She really just came here to check up on me," she told him honestly. She was sort of missing the woman's presence in her cramped home. Though Akane hadn't stayed there, she _had_ visited a lot.

It was lonely in the apartment sometimes.

Reborn frowned. The two females were starting to grate on his nerves. The other day, he had tried looking up anything on a 'Mana' or 'Kouno Akane'. Predictably, Reborn couldn't find anything and he was starting to become uncomfortable. He eyed Masami, who was paying attention to walking. Would she tell him anything? It was worth a try.

"Masami, why did Akane keep calling you Mana?" Reborn demanded. He contemplated putting a gun to her head but then dismissed it. For something like this, Reborn doubted the brave, stubborn and stupid girl would tell him against her will. There was a pause in her step. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been in her arms.

Masami laughed nervously. "It's a nickname. Sort of." She caught Reborn's inquisitive stare and cringed inwardly.

"I don't want to tell you, buut..." Her eyes narrowed. "I have this feeling that whether or not I want you to find out won't be up to me." Masami had been having a baaad feeling for a while now. She felt something was going to happen soon that would reveal her secret.

She didn't want anyone to find out.

Unconsciously, she made a move to grab the purple-blue gem that was hanging next to her hand. Right after Hibari had broken the chain, she realized a few of the links were missing. So... _I had to make the necklace into a bracelet._ It felt uncomfortable having a weight on her wrist. As soon as she could, Masami planned to buy a proper chain so she could make it into a necklace again.

"So, just wait a little longer, Reborn-san."

Reborn tilted his head. Masami caught his gaze and looked away quickly.

"I'm sorry."

Reborn stared at her for a while. "It's fine then. Take your time, Masami." He had the same feeling as Masami that all would be revealed in due time. "Just don't take too long," he said, smirking.

Masami blinked before grinning. "Reborn-san is pretty nice sometimes."

His tiny hand went to pull at her hair. "_Sometimes_?"

"Ow, ow, ow. Haha... Of course I meant _all the time_, Reborn-sama," she said nervously. Happy, Reborn let go off her hair and pretended not to notice the glare directed at him. The pair walked (well, in Reborn's case, sat) in silence for a while until they reached the edge of the school property before Masami stopped suddenly.

"Crap," Masami breathed out. "I forgot about Yamamoto-kun." She couldn't believe she had forgotten. She frowned. It must have been because she was so angry about Hibari thinking of her as a 'pet'. She shuddered, still bitter about the whole thing.

"What?" Reborn asked, curious.

Masami grimaced. "He was sort of upset earlier." She caught his look. "I know... _**Yamamoto**_ upset... I think it was about a love triangle," she trailed off, thinking about this morning. "He doesn't think the girl he likes likes him back, but Yamamoto-kun does seem to be the type to have lots of girls fall for him," she observed thoughtfully.

Reborn had to smirk at that. "What are you going to do about it?"

Masami looked to the school pensively, her eyes dull with worry. "I don't..." Her eyes widened as a light bulb in her head lit up. She quickly set Reborn down on the ground before shooting back up.

_Hmm?_ Reborn raised his fedora hat before smirking. "An idea?"

Masami began backing away excitedly towards the school. "Yeah!" she exclaimed. "A great one to cheer him up." Reborn watched her run back to the school. _Good luck, Masami._ Though he doubted it would be hard to cheer the boy up because...

_Yamamoto will just be happy that Masami cares.

* * *

_

Yamamoto allowed himself a small sigh as he put the last of the cleaning supplies back into their proper places. He had volunteered to take both him and his partner's classroom duties because his partner had had to go to a doctor's appointment. Yamamoto didn't mind at all. Just before the final exams, all club and team activities in the school were stopped, meaning he had no more after school baseball practice. He stared out a nearby window from which he could see the empty baseball field, eyes wistful. If the keys to the store room and the field hadn't been secured by the main office, he would have gone out onto the field in a heartbeat.

"Yo," a girl's voice greeted behind him.

Yamamoto turned and felt a grin making its way to his face. It was Masami, hands folded behind her back and standing on her tippy-toes so she wouldn't have crane her neck up as high to look at him.

He laughed. "Haha. 'Yo' doesn't suit you, Masami," he noticed. "But hi."

"I was trying to be cool," she explained, hands gesturing in the air. He laughed again and she smiled a bit. "Anyway, I have a surprise!"

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at her statement. What could the surprise be? He was curious and, dare he feel, a bit happy.

She nodded. "Now close your eyes. You'll see your surprise in a bit."

Yamamoto smiled agreeably. "All right then." He promptly closed his eyes but almost opened them in surprise when he felt a hand wrap itself around his wrist. He noticed the slender fingers barely made its way around his wrist as Masami pulled him.

"It was kind of hard getting permission, but I just flaunted the arm band a bit and the secretary immediately let me. Err, I guess I sound sort of vain but... I'm expecting _some_ sort of compensation by always doing the committee's paperwork. This is the least Hibari can do," she exclaimed defensively still pulling Yamamoto in an unknown direction. "It took a while to set everything up since I didn't know where everything was in the room but I eventually found everything!" Masami's eyes widened in realization. "I'm... babbling, aren't I?"

Yamamoto grinned, eyes still closed. "It's cute. Don't worry, Masami." He was pretty curious as to where she was taking him but didn't dare peek. He could feel Masami's gaze on his face every so often, making sure he didn't open his eyes.

"Oh..." she started awkwardly. "...Thanks." Then, "We're here!" Yamamoto opened his eyes. They widened. They were on the baseball field. He looked down to see a bat near her feet. Masami was a ways from him, halfway from the pitcher's mound so that she was standing rather close to him. She noticed his confused look and rubbed the back of her head with the hand which didn't have a baseball glove on it.

"I have terrible aim so I have to stand really near you." She looked away, embarrassed. "I may not throw the balls properly and I'll miss a lot and I know you may have rather been doing this with your team members, but I couldn't find any of them." She shrugged. "Everybody seems to run as fast as they can from school when summer starts," she joked. Meanwhile, Yamamoto had returned to looking down at the bat which he had picked up with an unreadable expression on his face.

Masami frowned. "Yamamoto-kun?"

He twitched and looked up. "Oh... Oh! I was listening. Just thinking a bit." He laughed. "I don't mind at all if you don't throw too well!"

Masami cocked her head. "What were you thinking about?"

Yamamoto grinned. "Just that I'm not giving up on that girl. Not yet anyway."

Masami's eyes immediately flashed. "That's the spirit, Yamamoto-kun! Fight!"

He nodded. "Haha, I will!" He smiled softly as he watched Masami hit the palm of her gloved hand experimentally.

"Masami..."

Masami looked up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks," Yamamoto said, grinning.

* * *

Hibari watched calmly on his perch on the Reception room window as Masami accidentally threw another baseball over Yamamoto's head. His eyes narrowed as Yamamoto laughed merrily at Masami's embarrassed expression. Meanwhile, Kusakabe stood a few feet away from Hibari, confused.

"Kyoya-san." The vice-chairman cleared his throat. "You aren't going to stop them?" As he remembered correctly, Hibari didn't allow any students to participate in club or team activities during the last weeks of the school year. He cringed inwardly. What was even worse about this whole situation was the fact that a committee member was one of the people breaking the rules. Kusakabe could only imagine how furious Hibari was right now.

_...Which makes his action, or lack of it to be exact, strange_, Kusakabe thought. The chairman would usually be down there by now punishing the rule-breakers. Hibari didn't answer, still looking outside with an emotionless facade on his face. Kusakabe shuffled nervously before taking a deep breath.

"You... you aren't mad, chairman?" he asked carefully. Kusakabe sighed inwardly as his leader ignored him again, but flinched when he heard Hibari's voice.

"I am," Hibari remarked coolly as his eyes were drawn to Masami's bright smile, something which he had never seen on her features before, and that he could only see now because she didn't realize he was watching. Kusakabe froze as he felt the room suddenly become cold.

"...It's unacceptable to take anything that's mine."

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter will be pretty long. At least by my standards. It's also the end of the Daily Life Arc, which may be the reason it's so long. I've only finished half.

Thank you for reading and please review. They fuel my desire to write. I'm sure I'll be finished by Friday if you guys tell me what you thought of this chapter. :)

* * *

**Next Chapter: Summer Love**

_"You look very pretty, Masami-san!"_

_**"...I'm pretty excited. This is my first time at a festival."**_

_"All the money from Tsuna's stall was stolen."_

_**"Get away!"**  
_

_"Hibari... this is... for me...?"_

**_"That did not just happen, that did not just happen, that _**_did not _**_just happen! Hibari!"  
"...Shut up."_**


	11. Summer Love

_01/04/12: Edited because I am an apathetic dork. Seriously._

A/N: **Semi-important author's note (bolded) at the bottom.**

18 reviews if I'm counting right! Thanks to **DarkRoadHina**, **Chocolate Ribbons**,** stuffedninja101**, **SnowieG27**, **IceRose84528**,** hiyomi**, **ausumist**,** Juliedoo**, **DatAznKid**, **MoyaMetalDango13**, **fuwacchi **(two times :D), **Angie**, **omgpink** (two times ^ ^), **HibariluverP**,** midnight(.)wolf62**, **HappyxFat**, **Sheepoa**, **Pandorachan**. I'm not exaggerating when I say I really, really, **really **wouldn't have been able to churn this chapter out if it wasn't for the encouragement. Thank you, thank you! :D You guys are awesome!

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for betaing this chapter.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 11: Summer Love**

"Hahi! Please hold still, Masami-san!" Haru giggled out as she wrapped the yukata around Masami's body.

"Tell me if any of the pins or clips hurt, Masami-senpai," Kyoko said cheerfully as she finished brushing Masami's hair.

"Ah... sorry... and I will, thank you..." Masami did her best to keep still as Haru and Kyoko fussed over her meanwhile chatting with one another about a new type of cake at their favourite cake shop.

_Summer finished so quickly..._Masami thought glumly as she obediently stayed still. She had spent her summer with Tsuna and the others. Masami smiled a bit as she recalled the small adventures they had had over the weeks, courtesy of a certain baby. Before she knew it, the summer festival had come around.

Masami sighed inwardly. She had forgotten about the promise Reborn had made to Hibari. It was only about three hours ago, when Reborn had come knocking on her door, that she had suddenly remembered. She was promptly introduced to Kyoko and Haru, who assured her they would do their best to make her the prettiest girl in the festival.

_These two girls really are nice... _Masami thought absentmindedly. Then she thought, _Ow_, as a pin accidentally stabbed her in the head.

She heard Kyoko gasp. "I'm sorry, senpai! Are you okay?"

Masami nodded and gave the younger girl a tired smile. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired..."

Haru squeaked as she finished tying the obi around Masami's waist. "Phew! It took a while to tie that, Masami-san!" She looked at Masami's body with slight envy. "Your waist is so thin! I'm so jealous!"

Masami smiled nervously. That's because I never have enough to eat, Haru-san... She didn't voice her thoughts out loud though. Masami blinked as Kyoko soon finished with her hair, pinning her long bangs back.

"I'm sorry, Masami-san..." Kyoko trailed off. "I only have very plain bobby pins..." she gestured to her short bangs. "I've never really had to pin my own back..." Masami's eyes softened at Kyoko's apologetic look.

"It's more than enough!" Her loud voice made the other two flinch in surprise. Masami grinned. "Thanks a lot, you two. Despite not knowing me that well, you still decided to help me." Even though I'm still unwilling about this whole thing... but it's the thought that counts!

Haru blinked. "Hahi! Of course! We heard you're trying to make a boy notice you!" Her eyes were suddenly filled with a determined fire. "Girls will always help girls when it comes to love!"

What.

Wait, what.

"...I'm not trying to..."_ What the hell did Reborn tell you two?_

Kyoko smiled sweetly. "Do your best!" she interrupted.

"Believe in the power of love, hahi!" Haru exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air.

Masami sighed inwardly, giving up the notion of telling them Reborn had been lying. She looked anxiously at her reflection in the mirror. Did she look weird? She didn't want people staring at her when she was walking around.

Kyoko noticed and misinterpreted. "You look very pretty, senpai. I'm sure the boy will like it very much."

Haru gasped. "The prettiest, Masami-san! The prettiest! You were already very cute, hahi! The small bit of make-up on your face makes you look so beautiful!"

"Oh..." That isn't why I'm so nervous, but.. ."Thank you...?"

"Good luck!" Haru and Kyoko exclaimed at the same time.

* * *

_These sandals are hard to walk in,_ Masami thought mildly as she tripped/walked through the festival, glancing at the stalls ever so often. She was trying to look for Reborn, who had told her to find him as soon as she got into the festival. She looked down nervously when she noticed some people staring at her.

_Does it really look that weird?_ She wasn't used to wearing such feminine clothes but at the same time, she was thrilled. Masami had recently discovered she liked being in girly clothes, or maybe more like she liked dressing up every once in a while like every normal girl did? Before coming to Namimori, Masami hadn't really had much of an opportunity to dress up so a change of pace every once in a while was nice!

Masami smiled happily.

Should she thank Reborn for this chance?

Masami blanched at the same time she decided not to. She refused to thank someone who had an ulterior motive. She was still wondering why Reborn had insisted on her wearing a yukata to the , there's one good thing about doing this, Masami thought as she stomped/tripped through the crowd. It was that she was off-duty from her committee activities.

"WHYYY?"

Masami whipped her head towards the voice to see a vendor moaning with his head against one of the posts of his stall. She blinked, realizing the man had one of those shooting stalls. The second thing she noticed was that there weren't any prizes on the wall of his stall!

_It can't be..._ Masami pursed her lips as she blankly directed her gaze at Reborn, who was standing on one of the stools with stuffed animals littered around the legs of the stool.

I knew it...

Masami sighed before walking carefully towards Reborn. Reborn noticed movement in the corner of his eyes and turned towards the staggering girl.

"Oh, Masami," he greeted. He looked at her up and down before smiling. "I knew you would look good in a yukata..."

Masami's eyes narrowed, suspicious, before she relaxed. "...Thank y-"

"...You have a flat body; the ideal type for the yukata."

Masami immediately changed her thanks to a, "Damn you." She then looked down at her chest. Was she really that flat?

"Yes, you are," Reborn answered for her. He ignored her glaring. "Go to Tsuna's stall."

Masami slumped her shoulders. "Tsuna has a stall...?" Why didn't she know about this?

Reborn nodded. "You remember when Yamamoto broke that window? Well even if you don't, they have to get money to pay for the damage costs."

Masami blinked before turning around. "I'll go help them then!" She was gone before Reborn could say another word.

"Heh."

* * *

Masami flatly watched from a few feet away as she saw Higashi and Renji screaming at a frightened Tsuna. They were extorting money and threatening to break the stall if Tsuna didn't pay up the money. It was... it was... unbelievable.

"Higashi-kun, Renji-kun," she called out mildly and still looking at the entire scene with a flat gaze. The two boys immediately turned around before their eyes both widened.

"M-Masami-san!" they both exclaimed before gaping at her appearance.

Masami raised an eyebrow in confusion as they both suddenly turned away, blushing. She ignored the action and began tapping her foot against the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Um, well, we were..." Renji trailed off and looked to Higashi for help.

Higashi stiffened. "We were getting money for the Disciplinary committee," he explained tentatively.

"What..." Masami quietly whispered. Tsuna stared, incredulous, as the two boys hid behind him.

"WHAT?" She stomped towards them and pointed an accusing finger at them. Masami then proceeded to blow up.

"Why? Who do you think you two are! People are working hard to make this money and you go ahead and start threatening them! Do you think just because you belong to a scary middle school club that you can start extorting money off people! Do you see me running around threatening people with my power as a member?" She glared at the money box Higashi was holding.

Tsuna -san is really scary when she's angry. He glanced around nervously, wishing Yamamoto or Gokudera was with him. They had gone to get more bananas, leaving him to take care of the stall by himself. He hadn't been expected to be hassled by Disciplinary Committee members. Luckily, Masami was here to save him.

Save him...?

Tsuna's shoulders deflated as he realized he was being saved by Masami. This was the second time she was helping him out too. He watched in pity as the two other members shrank back from the small girl who was still screaming her top off.

"-and you've been doing this to all the stalls, haven't you? Go and return all that money this instant!" Higashi and Renji looked at one another before bowing.

"YES! Right this instant we will, Masami-san! We're going to return this money right now!" They were in mid-step before a voice interrupted.

"What did you two say?" Masami swerved around to see Hibari. He was glaring at his pair of subordinates with irritation obvious in his eyes.

"Oh good! Please tell them to stop extorting-"

He directed his glare at Masami. "And what do you think you're doing?" Something in his eyes flickered as he looked at her but it disappeared as fast as it appeared. Masami stepped back, confused.

_Huh...? Wait..._ Her eyes hardened as she realized what was happening. "You... you ordered them to do this...?" Hibari ignored her and turned to Higashi and Renji.

"I expect you two to finish this row in an hour. If you don't..." He brandished his tonfas and the two boys made muffled squeaks. "I'll bite you to death."

They bowed. "Y-yes, Hibari-san!"

"Hold it!"

Hibari's eyes narrowed as the girl stepped in front of him to frown at Higashi and Renji in disappointment.

"Guys..." Masami frowned. "I thought you two were good people." They both stiffened and lowered their heads.

"...We aren't, Masami-san..." Higashi said quietly.

Renji shook his head. "You're the only one who thinks that..."

Masami blinked, confused. "What are you two talking abo-?" She felt a hand wrap itself around her wrist and was whipped around to meet eyes with a blank-faced Hibari.

"Aah..." Her eyes were akin to a doe caught in the headlights of a car.

"You're coming with me," he stated coolly. Masami frowned and put her hand on his, which was gripping her wrist tightly.

"Yeaah... I don't think so, buddy," she deadpanned while struggling out of his grip. "I still have to fight with you."You can't just force the members to extort money! She noticed his blank half-lidded stare which indicated he thought she meant literally fight with him. Masami set her mouth in a tight line.

"I mean that you shouldn't be extorting money, Hibari! I'm not going with you."

Hibari's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Fine." He turned to the Higashi and Renji who were watching the whole fight with fear in their eyes. Masami sighed. They were hiding behind a frightened Tsuna. It was a comical sight, seeing as how the two boys were taller than Tsuna.

"Return the money," Hibari ordered. Masami immediately turned to Hibari, her eyes wide in astonishment.

He actually listened. _Amazing... Really amazing._ For someone like Hibari to listen to someone like that...

"Let's go." Hibari pulled hard on her wrist, making Masami yelp and trip after him.

"W-wait!'

They disappeared into the busy crowd.

...

"...What do we do now?" Higashi asked Renji, who was wiping sweat off his brow.

"Return the money," Renji answered resolutely.

_Go away already! _Tsuna thought. He was almost near tears and his nerves were almost completely shot from surviving an encounter withtheHibari Kyoya. He glanced worriedly at the direction where Hibari had dragged Masami, praying he wouldn't be visiting her in the hospital the next time they met. They both turned to Tsuna. Tsuna backed away carefully. He didn't care what Masami thought.

These. people. were.** violent**.

EHH? His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets as they both bowed.

"Please take care of Masami-san, No-good Tsuna," they both asked in unison.

Tsuna frowned._ Y-you don't ask people for a favour and then call them 'No Good'... _He tilted his head. "What do you mean?" Higashi rubbed the back of his head, hair bobbing up and down with the movement.

"Hibari-san can be very unpredictable at times," Higashi explained. "We're worried about her well-being."

"A bit possessive and controlling too," Renji added.

Tsuna sweatdropped. They were blatantly insulting their leader. "I think she'll be okay though..." he looked away. "I mean, Hibari-san only thinks of her as a... a...pet." He cringed and inwardly asked Masami for forgiveness for calling her a 'pet'.

"We thought so too, but after seeing her dressed up no nicely..." Renji's snort interjected Higashi. "Dude, shut up... Anyway, just watch out for Masami-san."

Tsuna coughed to break the tense silence. "R...right..."Maybe these two aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be,Tsuna remarked inwardly.I mean, they are worrying about Masami-san.

Renji nodded. "Right then. We'd like to buy two chocolate bananas," he said and then proceeded to take some money out of the box they were holding. Money which they were supposed to return to their rightful owners. Tsuna's jaw dropped. Higashi caught Tsuna's expression.

"Psh. We're going to give the rest of it back, No-good Tsuna. We're just hungry."

"Err..." Tsuna started but then promptly clamped his jaw shut when the scary Disciplinary members glared at him.

_Nevermind. These people are evil!_ Tsuna gulped and starting preparing some chocolate bananas.

Tsuna shook his head. _I don't know how you can stay around Hibari-san, let alone these people, Masami-san._

* * *

"Umm... Hibari-san," Masami began flatly. She was still being dragged by him. How long had it been now? Two minutes?

Hibari, predictably, didn't answer.

She sighed, resigning herself to being pulled to wherever. To distract herself from her... distasteful situation, Masami glanced around, excited. This was her first time at a festival. She had heard a bit of what you could at one from Rei and Akane but never had an opportunity to go to one since she was always moving around. She paused as she saw a goldfish scoop stall. Masami felt that the grip around her wrist was now loose, allowing her to slip through Hibari's grasp and skip to the stall.

_Stupid Hibari, _Masami thought as she purposely ignored the glare that was given to her back. Masami knelt down by the inflatable pool, trying to ignore how she was surrounded by little kids. She turned around quickly and caught sight of people giving her weird looks. Was it really that weird? She looked at the fish-filled water contemplatively.

I guess it is a little weird... She shook her head wildly, ridding herself of embarrassment. It was her first time at a festival and she intended to enjoy it to its fullest!

"One paper net please!" Masami hollered, unnecessarily loud, to the vendor. The vendor gave the girl a wary glance before handing Masami the net in exchange for a few coins.

"Yosh!" She dramatically dunked her paper net in the water...

...only to pull a broken net out, no fish in the watery paper.

_Erm..._ Masami could feel a pink tint her cheeks as she heard snickering from the kids around her. Depressed, she shuffled her way back to Hibari who was waiting under a tree. He stared blankly at her forlorn expression.

"Finished?"

Masami nodded. "Yeah... Let's go..." Wait, what am I doing? She looked up to see Hibari walking off and frowned.

"I'm not following you, you know!" she called out. She flinched as Hibari turned around slowly, eyes promising violence if she didn't obey him. She crossed her arms stubbornly while at the same time regretting calling out to him.

_Should have just let him walk off like an idiot..._ Masami lamented as he stalked towards her. Hibari's eyes narrowed dangerously as her eyes darted around, looking for an escape route.

There were** none**.

Masami would have immediately opted for disappearing into the crowd but there wasn't a crowd. Many people had moved away a safe distance when they caught sight of Hibari in the area. She glanced at the stalls.

Many of the vendors were minding their own business, paying no attention to her. Though once in a while, Masami could see one make eye contact with her, only to look down quickly. Crap. Maybe she should have come up with an escape plan before calling out to him like an idiot. Masami backed away slowly and very carefully. She didn't want to trip in front of him and embarrass herself, especially at a crucial time like this.

_Do not provoke scary Disciplinary Committe Chairman with quick movements. _She must have shrunk down on herself. That was the only reason Masami could think of why he was towering over her.

"Didn't I say..." Hibari lazily wrapped his long arms around her form, pushing her towards him with the hands on her back.

"...not to disobey me?" he breathed out against her collar bone.

_Oh god..._ Masami struggled to pull back. He in turn pulled her closer to him until both their bodies were flush against each other. Masami could distinctly feel every part of him: his toned chest against her own, his legs casually locking hers, and the hard sensation of his belt buckle against her stomach. "Get... away..." she gasped out, which only made Hibari pull her closer to him.

"Not until you say 'yes'."

Masami floundered, unsure of what would be the appropriate reaction to have. She chose to struggle even more than before.

"You're acting strange, Hibari," she remarked against Hibari's shoulder. She tilted her head up. "Sick?" Masami witnessed him frowning before she was dropped unceremoniously on the floor by Hibari letting her go. She grimaced at the pain from the impact. Her butt really hurt now. Were stone grounds normally this hard?

He was... walking away from her?

Masami bit her lip as she watched him retreat. It was hard to be angry at Hibari when he was like that. He was mad, but it wasn't his usual kind of it was his usual, he would have beat me up, Masami thought plaintively.

_He's acting... _She grinned and hurried after him.

_...like a sulky kid._

* * *

Hibari turned around when he felt a hand tugging on his jacket.

He watched as Masami stared at him contemplatively. The thoughtful expression on her face was more than enough to give away that she was right now trying to think of something to resolve the situation.

"A compromise is in order," Masami stated to him. She exhaled loudly and he noticed that she was fidgeting with her fingers, strangely uncharacteristic of her.

"I'll stay with you. You're patrolling, right? I'll do it with you since I thought it was a bit unfair how Reborn managed to get me out of prefect duties anyway," Hibari raised an eyebrow as Masami looked away, almost shyly. "But this is my first time at one of these things, so I still want to do stuff, okay?"

Hibari stared at her face for the longest time that it was beginning to make Masami her fidget even more. She seemed to realize she was still holding onto his jacket and let go quickly. Masami straightened so that she didn't have to tilt her head up more than she had to. The look she gave to him was placating but Hibari knew that with that personality of hers, she wouldn't rub it into his face if he said yes. If she did do something annoying like that, he would be sure to beat her down.

So with much reluctance, Hibari coolly nodded.

* * *

Hibari watched blankly as the girl, Masami, practically floated to the game stalls like a child in a candy shop. Not even the children who were at the stalls seemed to be as excited as her.

Her aim was terrible. On all the chances, she had missed the entire target, which was a feat within itself seeing as how the target boards were so large. Masami's shoulders slumped dejectedly as she finished her last shot. The sound of children laughing filled the air around her and she looked around, noticing that the kids around her were laughing. Her cheeks turned red.

Hibari studied her profile for a moment. Half-lidded brown eyes with lashes that looked longer than usual because of the tiny bit of mascara elongating them ever so slightly widened as the child in front of her tripped. The elegant up-do of her hair shifted and loosened, allowing stray strands to fall over her flustered cheeks as she helped the kid up gently. Her pink lips that were previously in a slight pout shifted into a small smile as the child grinned bravely up at her, despite the scrap on his knee.

Hibari didn't react when the baby decided to pop in beside him.

"Masami cleans up well, doesn't she?" Reborn smirked as the vendor of the stall, a blushing high school boy, offered Masami another try at his stall. He then looked to Hibari and predictably, he was glaring at the oblivious, enamoured boy.

"No," Hibari intoned blankly. Reborn sighed. Hibari was either dense or just plain stubborn. The infant was betting more the former than the latter. He had got to all this trouble for the head prefect only for Hibari to say Masami didn't look like she was a stick-thin kid. He wouldn't have his efforts be wasted by some stubborn guy.

Time to approach this from a different angle then...

"Yamamoto didn't see Masami at all today," Reborn remarked casually. As expected, Hibari took the bait and stiffened imperceptibly.

"Your point?"

"Nothing at all," Reborn replied innocently and suddenly, Hibari had re-directed his glare from the vendor to the small baby beside him.

"Don't test me or I'll bite you to death."

Reborn shrugged and glanced at Masami. She was being handed a large stuffed teddy bear from the boy with the scrapped knee. Most likely, the kid had taken her place as a participant in the shooting stall. Reborn had witnessed her first attempt at the game from a different location before going to Hibari.

Reborn was positive that with Masami's aim, she couldn't have won such a large prize.

He smirked smirked, very suddenly. If what he said next didn't bring out a reaction from Hibari, then nothing would.

"You seem to have grown attached to Masami over the past few months, Hibari." Reborn had noticed that it had begun slowly. At the beginning, Hibari had only accepted Masami into the committee because of the bet with Reborn (**Never **bet against Reborn) and was quick to try to disassociate her with the committee as much as possible. But now...

Reborn smiled as Hibari swung a tonfa at him. He dodged expertly and landed on his feet a good distance from Hibari.

The baby lifted the brim of his hat to meet cool metallic eyes. He smirked.

...

The Namimori Middle anthem interrupted the heavy atmosphere with a cheerful ring.

_Hm? _Reborn thought. Now what could that be? His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw next. Hibari promptly pulled out a cell phone that was blaring the familiar song much to Reborn's amusement. He flicked it open and turned slightly away from Reborn.

"What is it?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow as Hibari's stoic expression slowly morphed to one of annoyance as the person on the other line spoke rapidly. The baby tilted his head. It was most likely that fight with those thugs near the shrine. He could only contribute Hibari's irritation to the incident that was taking place right now.

The baby smirked at the memory from 10 minutes ago.

_"Go get the money box back, No-good Tsuna." It was only a few seconds ago that their precious money they had earned from selling bananas was stolen by a thief. Reborn thought of this as an excellent opportunity for training, which was why he ordered the three boys **not** to alert the Disciplinary Committee of the robbery._

_Reborn didn't think they would anyway. Hibari would likely 'confiscate' the cash and keep it for his committee, which all of them knew was a distinct possibility(threat)._

_Tsuna cringed at the mischievous glint in Reborn's beady eyes and backed away from the tutor to the relative safety of Yamamoto and Gokudera. He knew it was bad news for them that all their earnings had been stolen and he also knew that telling Hibari's committee of the theft was not a good idea, which meant that it would be a good idea to take matters into their own hands, but... but..._

_'HIIIEK! The look in Reborn's eyes is absolutely **terrifying**!'_

_Tsuna was putting his foot down this time. "No way! What if I get hurt?" He frowned. "There's no point in going, especially if I'm going to get hurt!"_

_Reborn's eyes narrowed, irritated. "Shut up." Yamamoto and Gokudera's eyes widened as their friend was kicked in the stomach by the Arcobaleno._

_"Juudaime/Tsuna!" They knelt down to help the idiotic boy. Tsuna winced. He put a hand to his stomach and stared at his tutor fearfully._

_"Reborn! What was that for!"_

_Reborn sighed. His idiotic student was such an... **idiot**. Leon morphed into a gun and the baby followed the transformation by clicking the safety off._

_Tsuna's jaw dropped. "No, no, no, NO! You are NOT shooting me with that!"_

_Yamamoto laughed. "Are we about to play more of that mafia game again?"_

_"That's right, Yamamoto. It's the mafia game..." Reborn smirked, a mixture of more evilness than innocence in his black eyes. With a nod of affirmation from Reborn, Yamamoto proceeded to close down their stand. They had sold all but one box of bananas. Surely they could take a little break now to play, right?_

_"Stupid baseball freak!" Gokudera scowled. "We aren't playing a game, godammit!"_

_Yamamoto looked perplexed. "Eh? Of course we are, Gokudera." He grinned. "I mean, the kid's even gotten his toy gun out!"_

_"You dumbass! That isn't a toy-"_

_BANG!_

_The two boys automatically turned their heads to the noise. During their argument, Reborn had taken the opportunity to shoot Tsuna with a dying will bullet._

_All was quiet among the patrons of the festival. It wasn't every day that they saw a baby shoot a middle school boy, after all. The tension was palpable as silence reigned among the masses, whose eyes were all on the unmoving boy lying on the ground. Suddenly, the boy popped up, a flame on his head and looking as fresh as a daisy. The flame was overshadowed as the participants of the Namimori summer festival quickly noticed that the boy was in nothing but a pair of boxers with pink hearts on them._

_Tsuna raised both his arms above his head, hands clenched in tight fists._

_"REBORN! Catch the thieves with my dying will!" the usually meek Tsuna boomed with gusto, oblivious to the scandalized shrieks from the people around him. He ran off with incredible speed, many people giving the exhibitionist more than enough space to get through easily._

_"Juudaime!" Gokudera hurried after the Vongola boss, though with less speed but considerably more clothes on._

_"Guys!" Yamamoto hurriedly draped tarp on the stall. As soon as he finished, he started after his friends only to be stopped by Reborn's voice._

_"Yamamoto," Reborn called out. He had forgotten to mention **it **earlier. This didn't seem like a good time, especially since they were in the middle of training, but... The baby shrugged._

_Whatever. Reborn moved his hat up so that he could see the inquisitive look on Yamamoto's face._

_"Masami looks really pretty in a yukata," Reborn simply said. And that was enough for Yamamoto to understand that Masami was at the festival in a yukata. The boy's cheeks turned slightly red._

_Yamamoto nodded shakily. "All right."_

_Reborn chuckled as Yamamoto jogged instead of sprinting and his smirk only widened when the usually coordinated Yamamoto pulled a 'Dino' and slipped on absolutely nothing._

The snapping shut of a phone lid made Reborn look up to see Hibari tugging his phone into his coat pocket.

"Going, infant..." Hibari muttered, tonfas clenched tightly by his side, as he started for the Namimori shrine which was just at the outskirts of the festival area.

Reborn blinked. "What about Masami?"

Hibari gazed briefly at the aforementioned girl. She was eating takoyaki now with a pleased smile between her stuffed cheeks.

"..." He stalked towards the shrine without a backwards glance.

Reborn sighed but covered it with a mischievous smile. He had to reluctantly admit that he should go supervise the entire situation, just in case it went too overboard. With a parting nod to the oblivious Masami, he started off after the prefect.

Hopefully she won't get into trouble with no one with her, Reborn thought as he recalled the kidnapping incident. He promptly left to go after Hibari and to watch the events unfold.

* * *

"Hibari...?" Masami turned on her heel, inadvertently spinning in a full circle. She scowled after nearly tripping in her footwear again. All right. That was the last straw. She carefully stepped out of the sandals and secured the straps in the crook of her finger of one hand. The other hand was preoccupied with an overstuffed teddy bear at the moment.

_Now that that's over with..._ Masami squinted, meanwhile searching the faces of each individual in the crowd. There was no familiar face of a certain prefect glaring at her. Masami scowled. She had only been looking around for 10 minutes. Was he really that impatient to recommence patrolling and "protecting the peace of Namimori"?

"Tch." Sighing heavily, Masami ventured into the mob for any signs of the guy. She couldn't believe he just left her like that. She was slightly curious of what happened to Hibari. She wasn't worried about him in the slightest, just mildly curious/annoyed. While she searched, Masami could feel the mild feeling of anxiety in her heart transform to giddiness. She may not have a makeshift tour guide to lead her around the festival but the "Holy crap, I'm at my first festival" feeling was kicking in. The giddiness was swiftly put out with the fact that she had finished off the last few yen she had brought with her on that last dish of food. Damn. Masami's shoulders deflated. Why hadn't she brought more money?

_Maybe it's because you don't **have** more money to bring,_ inner Masami pointed out.

Oh yeah.

...That meant all that was left for Masami to do at the festival was to patrol. She paused contemplatively.

...

"No," Masami deadpanned. No way was she going to be caught dead walking around like an sandal-less idiot. Masami could feel the peculiar looks sent her way as she marched on the stone road, careful to avoid any loose pebbles that could injure her feet. She was embarrassed enough as it was just walking around and trying to figure out what to do. What to do, what to do...

Masami's eyes widened as an idea suddenly popped into her head. She should go back to Tsuna's stand. Maybe they needed bananas that needed selling. She could give her aching feet a break on the stools behind the counter of the stall too.

With a slight happy hop in her walk, Masami ventured off to the stand.

* * *

"Umm, excuse me..."

The old man looked up from his newspapers to see a small young woman standing in front of his stand. He smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkled with the movement.

"Yes, miss?" He gestured his hand to his merchandise. "You want to buy something?"

She looked blatantly ashamed and turned away quickly. "Sorry..." She grinned at him sheepishly while he chuckled, waving off her apology with a hand. He didn't think it was a problem at all. "I was actually wondering if you could tell me why the chocolate banana stand beside yours is closed..."

The old man's eyes glanced at the stand. "Oh, are you a friend of those boys?" Masami nodded. "It's a real shame. All their money was stolen right when they were 'bout done sellin' all those bananas." He pointed to the direction of the Namimori shrine. "I think they went that a way to try to catch the thief."

Masami panicked before nodding hurriedly. "R-right! Thank you."

"Be careful if you're going after those boys, young lady," the old man warned. "Those thieves could be dangerous."

Masami stopped short of running to look at the man incredulously. "What... did you just say?" she questioned.

The old man blinked. "Be careful...?"

She shook her head furiously. "The last part!"

"...Those thieves could be dangerous...?"

Masami hummed contemplatively and squinted. "The middle."

"Um... _young lady_?" the old man said slowly. What was the big deal with what he had said anyway?

"Yep, that's it!" She hit her hand with her fist. "Not a brat, little girl or kid, but a 'young lady'!" Masami exclaimed excitedly. The old man blinked slowly as Masami grinned at him. "How old do I look?"

The old man tilted his head slowly as he surveyed her. She was wearing a kimono as yellow and bright as the sun with a subdued darker yellow obi around her waist. Her dark brown hair was held up in a casual up-do by a long pin with matching yellow flowers hanging off the end. The strange thing about her hair was her bangs, which seemed to be barely being held back by the weak bobby pins that held her straight chestnut brown hair. He could tell she was wearing make-up, but could care less about the names of the beauty products. She was young but he could tell she would be quite pretty once she grew up a little more.

Well, he ought to know what was beautiful!_ After all, my granddaughter's one of the prettiest young'ns I've ever seen, _the doting grandfather thought haughtily as he recalled his beloved granddaughter, who was presently studying at a prestigious university in Toky-

"Ojii-san?" The old man was startled out of his thoughts as Masami called out to him. He smiled warmly at her inquisitive gaze.

"15..." he declared. "You look 15, miss!"

"I **am **15!" Masami said like an idiot, smiling happily. "I'll be going now, ojii-san. Thanks a lot!"

"Good luck, miss," the old man hollered out to a waving Masami, who was, impressively, already all the way down the path. Goodness, she was fast. Her swiftness made him briefly miss his younger days. He sighed.

_Kids these days, _he thought as he watched her disappeared down the road.

* * *

"Y-you'll pay for this!" the delinquent high school boy screamed to the four middle school boys. The four were surrounded by high school students who were lying on the ground from the beating they got. Other than him and two others, everyone single one of them had been rendered unconscious by a bunch of **middle school **kids.

_Dammit! Fucking brats!_ he thought angrily, backing away from the scene. His lip was busted and some of his teeth had been knocked out because of the fucking head prefect. Hibari was the one who needed to pay for what he had done the most. Said person had crossed his arms and looked to be arguing with the other three boys about what to do with the money. The high schooler scowled. So they didn't think he was worthy enough to finish the job on? One of his subordinates looked to him for guidance. The boy was sporting a black eye.

"Boss! What do we do now?" His voice was wavering. The obvious fear in it was unmistakable.

"Fuck..." The delinquent turned to the forest. That was their only way out since the brats were situated at the exit of the shrine.

"We're leaving for now!" The boy scowled as he clutched his mouth with one hand, the other having a few of his teeth in it. _They will **pay** the next time, _he promised as he made his way through the forest furiously, his two lackeys following him helplessly. Even with a full moon out, he was still tripping over stray branches because of the cover the canopy of the tree provided. This only made him more frustrated. He roared in anger, causing the other two to jump back. Their aniki had a scary temper.

"Hey, who's that?" one of his lackeys whispered. The boy turned towards where his friend was pointing. A girl in a yellow yukata was frowning at nothing in particular and looking around.

"Oh, I know!" the other subordinate cried out. "It's that girl who's always with that chairman guy. I think she's part of his club thingy."

The leader of the trio stared back at the girl who was now began walking deeper into the forest. He grinned, teeth showing. He had just gotten a wonderful idea. Something that could be the perfect revenge on the prefect bastard.

* * *

"Tsunayoshi-kun..." Masami hissed out. Her eyes darted quickly on the trees surrounding her. "Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera!" She continued walking for a few minutes before stopping to sit on a large rock. Masami sighed. It was official. She was lost. She must have made a wrong turn or something. One minute she was on a path and the next, she was in a forest.

_Can't believe my damn rotten luck._ Masami scowled, meanwhile glaring at a bush. She sorely regretted not taking that other turn when the path had split up. Masami looked at her feet mournfully. She cringed at the amount of dirt on them. Thinking it would only be a simple trip to the shrine, she had slipped the stuffed teddy bear and uncomfortable sandals into Tsuna's stall.

Masami shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. It was cold. Even though it was summer, once the sun set, the scorching heat chilled significantly. She tucked her head to her knees, eyes darkening. To be a little honest with herself, she was scared. For as long as she could remember, she had always been afraid of the dark. The darkness and enclosed spaces were two of her greatest fears. Masami shut her eyes tightly and curled into an even smaller ball.

_She had been afraid of the dark and small spaces ever since...-_

"Hey there, little girl..."

Masami felt a vein pop from her forehead, dissipating any scared emotions in her heart.

_Little girl?_ she thought angrily. She stood up and swerved around to see three roughed-up boys who looked to be in high school. She neglected to see the sleazy grins pasted on their bruised faces.

"Who the hell do you think are to be calling _me _a little girl?" Masami was already grumpy that she was lost. She didn't need someone insulting her by calling her a 'little girl'. Masami was pretty sensitive about how old she looked.

The boy, who looked to be leading the trio, grinned even more widely.

"We just want to play with you, that's all." He stepped forward as Masami began to cautiously step back, her face slowly paling now that she had a better look at them. "You shouldn't mind too much having fun with men like us, after all." Masami's eyes widened. Despite his words, she could tell he didn't want to "play" (whatever that meant) with her. His whole body language reflected violence but the real thing that gave away his anger was the malicious glimmer in his eyes. For whatever reason, he wanted to hurt her. Badly.

He grinned. "Get her!" the boy commanded. The other two, who had been previously behind their leader, stepped forward. Masami grimaced as she was suddenly snatched by the arm by a pudgy hand.

"Get off me!" Masami ground her teeth as the boy grinned at her. She scowled. Who the hell did he think she was? Did they really think she was going to go with them so easily? She wasn't going to be led away by these guys without a fight!

Masami slapped the chubby boy across the face, the sound of the action like the crack of a whip against the ground. The boy fell back, half from the shock of the slap and the surprising strength she carried despite her stature.

_...That's what you get for underestimating me._ Masami backed away cautiously. He lay on the cold ground, one foot through the door between awake and a light lucid dream.

The other two stared with her in a newfound light. Masami watched as the leader silently signaled to his subordinate. The pair were surrounding her like wolves did before they pounced on their prey.

_Damn it..._ She shouldn't have hit that guy so hard. They would have continued to underestimate her if she hadn't knocked him out like that. She wasn't good with spontaneity... Her small advantage of being underestimated was now gone.

Masami gasped. The other boy had snuck up behind her while she was daydreaming and had pinned her body against his own. His arms were hooked with her own, preventing her from even moving an inch from her current position.

"Heh." The one in charge leered. "Caught you~"

The hardy mask she had on cracked into a million infinitesimal pieces, so small that the courage she had displayed before could be nonexistent for all it did for her now. She began to shake. And as more of the adrenaline seeped out of her veins, the more shaking she did, until she was shaking so hard from fear that it was visible to the trio. They guffawed and she could feel her eyes stinging from bitter unshed tears.

"Haha! The bitch is shaking!"

"In that bastard's place, you're going to pay for it instead." The boy approached her with a confident slowness in his saunter.

_Who... was it?_ Who was she being used as the martyr for? Her fists clenched. An irrational hatred for the person sprung up in her like a weed. Some part of her mind _knew _it wasn't the person's fault that this trio was planning on taking revenge using her, but... She pushed the thought away. She could... focus on that later. Right now...

Masami blinked back the unshed tears. Some small part of her brain penetrated through the chaotic thoughts and emotions. If she cried, it would only give them satisfaction. Satisfaction that she absolutely didn't _want _to give them. It would be like giving up her soul, the very essence that was her.

She had promised not to cry to _him_, after all.

_Breathe Masami... _She slowed her quivering heart. Panicking wouldn't do. But her instincts and body were betraying her mind. Shutting her eyes tightly, what was left of Masami's rational mind scurried around to find a suitable way to get her out of the situation.

_Sandals may have been better than going barefoot, _she thought in passing. Then she inwardly laughed morbidly at her own thought. Here she was thinking of footwear in this kind of situation when she was supposed to be thinking of _some _way to escape. Her toes scrunched together and she squeezed her knees together to keep in warmth that was lost in the cool summer air. The action made her blink. A small seed of hope flowered.

Her legs were still free to move.

If she could...

All three of them stiffened when she suddenly slumped, her weight being supported only by her captor.

"Hey, is she awake?" the leader asked.

The person holding her leaned in to check, loosening his hold at the same time.

_**That**_ was enough.

Masami headbutted the person holding her. The blood rushing in her ears was so loud that it silenced the startled yelp. She could feel her head throbbing from the hazardous impact, but she willed herself to ignore it.

A sharp intake of cool air.

Masami shot past the other two and dashed off into the forest.

She held her shaking hands to her chest as she heard the scuffles of a chase beginning.

* * *

Tsuna sighed. They had gotten the money back from Hibari. Unfortunately, they had gotten only their money back. The rest of people who had their sales stolen wouldn't be getting their money back from the Disciplinary Committee. They were now walking back to their stand, Hibari having gone into the forest after the remaining trio who had escaped.

The Vongola Tenth smiled at the appearance of their closed stand. He had thought something might have happened to it. After all, the possibility of Hibari sending his committee to smash it wasn't that farfetched.

"We got all the money back, Juudaime." Gokudera grinned at Tsuna who returned it with a sheepish smile. Reborn, who had been sitting on Yamamoto's shoulder jumped off and expertly leaped into small hole through the tarp covering the stand.

Yamamoto laughed. "It's great. Now we can pay for that broken window!" The grin the bomb-user had been sporting suddenly turned upside down. He glared at Yamamoto.

"Stupid! You're the idiot who broke it in the first place!"

Tsuna sighed wearily as the two began arguing. Well, more like Gokudera was doing all the arguing and Yamamoto was just standing there, laughing. He would have continued to watch them fight if not for a heavy object that was thrown against him. He fell down with a shriek.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera cried out, rushing by Tsuna's side who was currently being pinned down by what knocked him over.

"Haha! Tsuna, when did you get that teddy bear?" Yamamoto grinned at the sight of the giant stuffed animal on Tsuna. Tsuna moaned in pain as Gokudera lifted the heavy thing off him.

Tsuna sat up slowly. "Where... where did that come from?"

"From me," a familiar squeaky voice said. Tsuna turned to see Reborn frowning at him.

"What are you doing, Reborn!" He shrieked as Reborn shot him a glare from the corner of his eye.

"...Is there something wrong, Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked. Reborn looked at the boy before nodding his head slowly.

"Where's Masami?" The baby pointed to the teddy bear beside Tsuna. "That's hers." Where the heck was that girl? Reborn regretted leaving her alone like that. Ever since entering the committee, Masami had been on the receiving end of many negative emotions of others, mostly due to the fact she was associated with Hibari.

"...Oh, you mean that sweet girl?"

The four turned to see the old man that owned the stand next to theirs looking at them with his head cocked to one side. "She went to look for all of you a while ago. Quite worried, you know." He blinked. "Did you get your money back, by the way?"

Tsuna nodded slowly. Why was it that he could feel dread in him now? "Yeah... we did..."

The old man smiled as he finished packing up the last of his things. The festival was over and all around them, others were doing the same with their stalls. The only thing left to end off the night were the fireworks.

"Good on all of ya!" He chuckled. "Well, I best be going now. Gonna go watch some fireworks!" The old man hobbled off.

Reborn frowned, thinking. "...Masami... she's in the forest..." he concluded.

Tsuna's jaw dropped. "EHH? What do you mean she's in the forest? Why would she be in there?" The dread tripled. Hadn't those three high schoolers also gone into the forest? Yamamoto was frowning worriedly while Gokudera had taken an uncaring expression.

Reborn shrugged. "She went to go look for us and must have gotten lost. All that's there," He pointed towards the direction of the shrine. "...is the shrine itself and then the forest." He smirked and Tsuna saw the shine of the gun.

He paled considerably when he saw the firearm. "NO! No way! I'm not getting shot with that** again**!" he shrieked.

"You don't have a choice No-good Tsuna," Reborn stated before shooting his student for a second time that night. They had to go look for Masami. Who knows what was happening to her right now.

* * *

Masami hadn't known she could be this afraid. She hadn't tasted fear like this for a long time because she had always felt safe when Rei or Akane were with her.

_But now... I'm alone._ It was a terrible feeling.

Loneliness.

Panting heavily, she lithely ran through the forest, careful to avoid roots and rocks that littered the cold, hard ground. She couldn't afford to turn around to see if they were going after her, knowing that if she did, she could fall to the ground and hurt herself.

Masami could feel herself struggling to breathe. After a while, she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her. Maybe they had left? She didn't bothering looking behind her when she sought rest under a tree. With two hands planted on the trunk, she looked down while taking big gulps of the cool air.

Masami's forehead bumped against the tree as she leaned against it. "I think..." Pant. "...I lost them."

_Please... be gone. **Please.**_

"I don't think so," a male voice whispered right next to her ear.

Masami cried out as she was grabbed by the elbow and flung onto the ground. She floundered to get up but was stopped by the vice-grip of sweaty hands on her wrists and equally tight holds on her ankles. She looked up to see the boy standing above her, grinning. Masami saw some perverted sick pleasure in his eyes as they raked across her form a second. She tried struggling for a few moments only to give up. No good. The other two were pinning her legs and arms on the ground, their grips tight enough to bruise.

"Don't loosen your hold," he ordered the pair. "She could cause trouble for us." As a result of their boss's words, they made their grip even tighter. She grimaced from the pain.

"Get off me!" Masami yelled, heart in throat. She didn't want this. Would rather do anything than this. Would rather go to the hospital a million times if they only let her go!

The boy leered, but did not say a word. He yanked away her loosened obi, tearing it in the process. He threw it over his shoulder, eyes never leaving her. Her yukata opened from the movement, revealing her thin camisole and legs to see. He put his hand on her knee and sneered cruelly at her face, meanwhile gauging her reaction.

_Coldness._

Her mind was screaming at her to do something. Anything. But her body -her traitorous body- was frozen in fear. She could feel the ugly emotion, ice cold and choking. All of these feelings were leading to a sense of helplessness that was making her tear up. What if's popped into her head while the person above her screamed in anger at the cold blankness of her face. The sounds and sensations were fading slowly. She barely registered how he was yelling at her or how he had just slapped her across the face. The hit left a painful-looking red mar on her cheek, but she wasn't perturbed by it in the least. She couldn't feel pain anymore. She couldn't feel _anything _anymore. There was a nothingness that should have been terrifying to her, but at the same time, she welcomed it. It felt like she was just a spectator to what was happening to her, like she was out of her body and was just now... watching. Simply watching.

Was that okay?

The boy could feel desperation well up inside of him. She wasn't screaming. She wasn't doing anything. She was just simply looking at him with glassy eyes. If he didn't see how her chest was rising up and down, she would have thought she was dead by how motionless she was. He growled. Dammit, dammit, dammit!

"You," He grasped at the camisole and pulled hard. "...and your fucking bastard of a chairman..." The delicate material tore, revealing bandages wrapped around her torso. "...can go rot in hell!"

His sweaty hands barely grazed the girl's chest before he was thrown off his position above her and flung a few feet away. A foot promptly stomped hard on his face. The strength of it was enough to dig his entire head an inch into the cold rock-hard floor. He was bleeding from his head. The other foot of his attacker smashed down against his arm and the boy could clearly hear the snap of a clean break of the bone. He cried out from the pain as the foot mercilessly twisted back and forth, digging his now-broken arm into the floor.

He heard his lackeys' terrified yells of, "Fuck, it's him!" before losing consciousness.

* * *

Masami's eyes shot open.

She was back.

She was here.

She watched in horror as a mysterious shadow flung the boy off her and away. The grip on her wrists and ankles disappeared entirely as she heard the guttural howl that came from the boy. The scream sounded like something you would hear from a wounded, dying animal and she shivered from her position lying on the ground. She could hear the sounds of attacks and pitiful shrieks coming from the other two as they were punished by the mysterious shadow that had saved her.

_...Get up,_ her brain commanded her. She nodded blearily, now on auto-pilot. She sat up cautiously (she was _still _shaking), trying in earnest to not be distracted by the _begging_ and _moaning_ and _screaming_ that she could hear from the boys in the darkness. Masami grimaced as she heard the clear sound of another bone snapping. It was almost pitch black now, the cloud hiding the moon's rays.

Masami's eyes were blank as she stared at the dirtied yellow obi a few feet in front of her. Too preoccupied in her thoughts was she to bother identifying who the shadow was.

...She had almost been, was so close to...

Masami shuddered and wrapped her arms around her as the realization hit her. She couldn't finish that sentence. Her thoughts drifted, coming to a stop as she remembered the boy above her just a few moments ago who had looked so..._evil_, so malignant. The image niggled Masami's mind and a memory came flashing back:

* * *

_Lights. _

_Bright fluorescent lights shined down on her_. _She was on a sterilized slab of cold metal. The chill reached through her thin cotton gown, worming into her skin and settling into her bones. She stared blankly at the bright lights, willing her eyes to shrivel up and for her to be blinded as she listened to the ones in lab coats surrounding her. Their shadows hovered above her.  
_

_"She's reacted well," a voice stated._

_Another chuckled. "It's a success. The only physical flaws we've determined are a change in the subject Mana is the eye and hair colour and even then, it's non-consequential."_

_"Should we continue?"_

A hand touched Masami's shoulder and the voices began to fade.

_"...Affirmative, but we should tread carefully."_

_A movement of someone nodding._

_"After all, we lost all the other subjects from this experiment..."_

Masami's eyes lit up, slowly losing the dull sheen to them_. _

..._Ah..._

"H...Hibari," she croaked out. Hibari let go of her as soon as she looked up. There was blood on his cheek that was most likely not his.

"Why are you... here...?"

Hibari's cool eyes assessed her appearance. Something flickered in his eyes. If she had been in the right state of mind, she would have known it to be guilt.

"...We're leaving."

* * *

She was still shaking like a leaf, the negative side effects of _that _still fresh in her head and body.

Masami didn't notice though. She felt numb, like she had just woken up from a long, dreamless sleep. In fact, the only reason she was walking was because of the young man in front of her, who was leading her quietly out of the forest. She pulled the tatters of her clothing closer to her. The chill in the air had gotten stronger.

If he had been any later, who knows what would have happened.

"...Um," she began awkwardly. Her voice was as rough as sandpaper from disuse and screaming. He didn't stop, but he did slow down. Enough that it encouraged her to timidly catch up to him.

"T-thanks." She didn't know what else to say. Words meant little to Hibari, so it didn't matter much.

He stopped then, turned to her expressionlessly. He hadn't made eye contact with her at all, so the action surprised her and at the same time, scared her. She hadn't expected the latter feeling. Maybe because she hadn't expected it to feel like he was staring right past her relatively calm front to her very soul, to the chaotic emotions swirling just underneath. Masami looked away.

She felt like crying now.

"...Sorry." She didn't know why she said it, but it seemed instinctively appropriate. Masami rubbed the nonexistent tears with her hand. For some reason, they stubbornly refused to come out and all she could feel was a stinging pain behind her lids.

"Here." He held his hand out to reveal something that seemed to shine in the dim moonlight. It was a simple sturdy-looking bobby pin made for pinning back bangs was the base of a silky-looking pink Sakura flower. It looked expensive and it took her a moment to recognize it from a stall earlier. Scratch 'looked'. It was expensive. She gulped and hesitantly plucked the object from his palm, her cold fingers brushing against the warm skin. She silently placed it in her hair, sweeping her long bangs back.

And against her will, she felt a little tiny bit better.

* * *

When they were on the outskirts of the forest, Masami felt good enough to at least _act _like her normal self. She wouldn't forget this night. She didn't think anyone who had the same experience as her could forget it, but her subconsciousness was telling her to remember the good parts of the festival more than the bad parts. She touched the cool metal in her hair and smiled a very tiny smile.

At the very least, she had a token to remember one of the good parts of the night.

They both stood there watching the lights from the stalls wink out as more and more owners packed up their wares. The night for the festival was ending.

She attempted a grin. "Thanks for the pin, Hibari! It's pretty nice!"

"I hate fakers..." He didn't even look at her.

The grin slid off her face. "...Am I really that obvious?"

He was about to answer. Would have answered if not for what happened.

She yelped as she suddenly felt something (a foot?) land on her hand and a loud voice saying, "REBORN! Save Masami with my dying will!" But hat was the least of her worries. The momentum caused her to trip on her foot and stumble forward. Instinctively, she grabbed on to the closest thing, which happened to be Hibari, to try to prevent the impeding fall. It would have beensuccessful if not for the fact that Hibari was unprepared to see a naked Tsuna above in the night sky behind Masami.

She felt something very similar to lips against her own for a brief moment before she was pushed to the side by a furious Hibari.

"That..." Masami stared wide-eyed at Hibari and felt herself stiffen when she saw that Hibari, like herself, had a cut on her lip from when she had... accidentally bit his lip.

"...That didn't just happen, did it?" she asked out loud.

As Hibari went to deal with Tsuna in his own way, Masami wondered... if this memory was a good or bad one.

...

It was... definitely. Bad.

* * *

**End of Daily Life Arc**

* * *

**A/N**: What I wanted to say that was important was **there will be no update next week (...and possibly the week after that)**. But this chapter was about 12k so... I guess it all evens out...? I've run out of pre-written chapters and need time to start writing more chapters again. I hope you all can understand.

I think I'll most likely be able to update in **two weeks** instead of the possible** three weeks** if you guys told me what you all thought of this chapter. This is a major leap in their relationship and I'm worrying if I did it all right.

Your reviews fuel my passion to write! Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Next Chapter: Relapse**

(...No preview, unfortunately...)


	12. Relapse

**A/N: **Disgustingly long author's note at the bottom. It'd make me happy if you read everything though.

Thank you to **MoyaMetalDango13**, **Chocolate Ribbons**, **Everlasting-Echo**, **SnowieG27, ****inwhich...myname**, **DatAznKid**, **victorlim321**, **ausumist**, **TheMcgabster**, **fuwacchi**, **worldwithoutend**, **Senna-Namikaze** and **steel-alchemist** for reviewing. They always brighten up my day, so thanks a bunch.

This is unbeta-ed for now so bare with me here a while here and if you see any mistakes, feel more than free to point them out.

* * *

**Possession  
****Chapter 12: Relapse**

"So, what's the reason you're spending more time with us, Masami?" Reborn asked. The girl had walked to and from school with them every day ever since school started. Very strange. Reborn smirked. But very interesting at the same time.

"Hibari and I are ignoring each other," Masami deadpanned, eying the baby on Yamamoto's shoulder with a flat look.

Yamamoto blinked curiously at the girl beside him. "Eh? Why's that, Masami?" Subconsciously, Masami turned her head to Tsuna, who was doing his utmost _not_ to meet her gaze.

Was it just Tsuna, or was Masami a teensy weensy bit angry at him? It was a mild look she pinned him with. Only the three of them -Masami, Tsuna and Hibari- knew what transpired that night and it would be kept like that. _Or else._

Tsuna glanced at his tutor. He suspected Reborn knew or at least had a clue because the baby seemed to know _everything _that went on in their life at Namimori.

Creepy.

Masami shrugged. "...Who knows...?" she remarked. "He and I are just ignoring each other for no reason other than for the reason for ignoring each other and _of course **not **_because something embarrassing happened between us a while ago because of a certain guy who I've discovered can't seem to keep his clothes on." Masami sighed wearily after her long-winded sentence while Gokudera and Yamamoto blinked obliviously.

Tsuna gulped. Yeah, she was mad.

Gokudera noticed something as they nearly reached the school.

"Hey... Woman! Why are you glaring at Juudaime like that!"

"..." Masami turned her head to look at Gokudera and smiled sweetly.

"Hm?" She tilted her head and the smile was so ominously sugar-sweet that it made Gokudera stand on guard, eyes reflecting just a hint of fear.

"I'm not glaring at Tsunayoshi-kun, Gokudera," she tittered.

Tsuna blanched. Yeah, she was _definitely _mad.

* * *

The heavy, crippling cold atmosphere caused by Masami did not subside when they arrived to school. In fact, it magnified tenfold when she caught sight of the school.

"W-well!" Tsuna began backing away to prepare for his escape. Reborn hopped off the shoulder to Yamamoto's.

"I-I'll be going then t-to put back my stuff!. B-bye!" He ran off without another word. Gokudera was trailing after him and hollering out, "Juudaime!"

That left the three of them with Masami still glaring at the direction Tsuna ran in. Yamamoto smiled, albeit it wavering. Even he could sense she was angry for some reason.

"Let's get going to our lockers Masami, okay?"

"Bah!" Masami turned away from Tsuna's retreating form. It was unsatisfying just _glaring _at Tsuna. She really wanted to do more (violent) things to him. Yamamoto jumped at the loud sound.

"...All right," she bit out, stomping away for Yamamoto and Reborn to follow.

Reborn tilted his hat up. He already knew. It had been pretty obvious what had happened when Masami and Hibari had come out of the forest looking _very _disgruntled and with blood trailing down Hibari's mouth. And he later discovered who started the whole fiasco when Tsuna came back to the house later that night, only to have to visit the emergency room from blood loss.

"You really are upset about it, aren't you?" Reborn questioned. It was more of a rhetorical question than anything. Not only had Masami been going and leaving school with them, he was also aware she hadn't been fulfilling her prefect duties.

How innocently cute.

Masami glanced at the baby as they walked to the entrance of the school. "Of course I am... Why wouldn't I be upset!" How did Reborn know about that incident anyway? She thought only Tsuna, Hibari and herself were the only ones who knew. Masami eyed him suspiciously. He smirked in response, looking like he already knew why she was looking at him.

Reborn shrugged. "Personally, I thought you would of enjoyed it."

Yamamoto blinked in confusion. "What are you two talking about?"

Masami snorted before turning away. "Tsunayoshi-kun made me and Hibari accidentally k-OWW!" Reborn had jumped from Yamamoto's shoulders and had delivered a kick to the back of her head.

Reborn sighed. "How do you think Yamamoto will react when he finds-" The baby blinked, realizing that the results could be **great **training. Meanwhile, Masami was gasping from the hit.

"Nevermind. Continue on," Reborn said, waving his hand in Masami's direction. Yamamoto was standing over her stooped form, worried.

"Masami, are you all right?" Yamamoto asked, lifting away her bag so that she could focus on nursing the ugly bruise that was forming on her head.

_N...No..._ Masami thought. She tried giving Yamamoto a smile but it turned out more like a grimace.

"Peachy..." she looked up to glare at Reborn, who was giving her his signature smirk.

"You little-!" She was interrupted by an announcement over the PA. Her eyes widened upon recognizing Kusakabe's voice on the speaker. Was it her or did he sound... anxious?

_"Will all Disciplinary Committee members please report to the Reception Room? I repeat, all members **must** report to the Reception Room." _

The resounding click signaled the end of the announcement. Masami blinked. Should she go? She had been purposely skipping out on her duties because she wasn't ready to face Hibari yet. _N-not because I'm scared or nervous, of course!_ It was because she was still very angry with him! That's it. That was the reason! Which is why she was totally not going!

...

_Ugh... but Kusakabe-san sounded really nervous..._ Masami thought, guilt hitting her full force. She should take responsibility for leaving all the paper work to Kusakabe by not doing anything for this past while. _But, but..._

_I'm still mad at Hibari!_

Masami did not have any time to debate with herself. Reborn decided what they would be doing on his own. The little control freak...

Reborn smirked. "Let's go. Oh, and..." She had opened her mouth to go against the baby's orders. "Neither of you should even try arguing since I'll just win in the end." Reborn looked pointedly at Masami whose jaw had dropped.

Yamamoto blinked at Reborn's declaration and Masami's face crumpled up sadly.

* * *

"'Scuse me!" Masami slid open the door to the Reception Room. Members were already shuffling towards the door. She waved to a few she knew as they walked past her, a grin on her face. Since the meeting was over, she could go now! Even Reborn couldn't do anything now.

Masami proceeded to follow the last member out with a happy hop to her step...

...only to be flung on the couch by Reborn.

_Damn!_ was her only thought right before she made contact with the furniture.

"Ow..." Her head had cushioned most of it, which could be good or bad depending on how she looked at it. At least it was only her _head_. Nothing important,_ of course_. Masami irately began rubbing her head with her head. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Hibari was staring at her behind his desk, eyes narrowed and _definitely _not amused.

_Umm..._

Reborn hopped off Yamamoto's shoulder to sit beside Masami who was speechless and staring with wide eyes at the head prefect. She should say something, right?

But what?

Reborn coughed, ending the tense silence. "Anything anyone would like to say?" Reborn asked. He looked to Masami. "Masami?"

Masami flinched, breaking out of her reverie. "Ah! Erm..." She should be telling Hibari that she knew it was irresponsible of her not to report in **at all** since school started and should also ask him why he hadn't bothered to seek her out and at least punish her a little **and **god knows his actions (or inaction, to be specific) was confusing her and that maybe he could let bygones be bygones and forget about that kiss-

"Good morning!" Masami blurted out. She couldn't say any of that. _Not now, not ever..._

...The silence had just taken a turn for the worse.

_I've just made an even more awkward silence, haven't I?_

Kusakabe twitched at her enthusiastic greeting. "Hello, Masami-san," he said slowly, ending the tense atmosphere. The relieved face Masami gave to him was comical.

"I-It's a nice day, isn't it, Kusakabe-san?" she pressed on, desperate to not go back to the heavy mood from just a moment before. Strangely, she had thought the first person to end it would be Yamamoto. She didn't look behind her so was unaware of what was happening. Hibari and Yamamoto were exchanging stares. Reborn observed the latter pair, slightly entertained.

Kusakabe smiled a little. "I heard we'll be getting this good weather for the rest of the week."

"O-oh really?" Masami could feel her palms were sweaty but she was desperate not to show her anxiety. She felt her emotions would only go downhill if she lost what little composure she had left.

"Yes. I was listening to the weather forecast this morning and-"

"Quiet..." Hibari had finally stopped exchanging glares with Yamamoto and had caught his subordinates' conversation.

Masami could feel Hibari's eyes trying to burn a hole in her. She absolutely refused to look up at him for any reason. Her gaze was directed at her busybody hands, which were wringing knots into her uniform skirt.

"So what's this mandatory meeting all about?" Reborn asked. Kusakabe frowned worriedly. The talk of weather had distracted him, but only for a little bit.

"...Recently, some of the committee members as well as a few Namimori stu-" He was cut off by a warning glance from Hibari. It was enough for Kusakabe to take the hint and silence himself. Reborn raised an eyebrow at the action.

"...Herbivore..." Hibari muttered. Masami and Yamamoto exchanged looks. It was only when she turned back to meet Hibari's gaze that she realized he was addressing her.

_Huh? _What was this about? Usually Hibari wouldn't show initiative and start small talk with her. She always had to do it._  
_

Hibari's eyes narrowed into slits. "You aren't needed anymore. Hand in your arm band," he said coldly. As if on cue, Kusakabe stepped forward with an uncomfortable expression on his face, ready to seize the piece of fabric.

_...What..._

Masami could feel shock hit her like a wall of cold water. Wasn't this too sudden? He was overreacting! She knew she hadn't been attending to her duties properly but couldn't it be overlooked?

_...Hibari... overlooking one of his members blatantly skipping members, hmm_... Masami thought. Okay, maybe not overlooked but at least it would have suited Hibari's personality better if he just injured her right now and then be done with it, with her position in the committee intact of course. She couldn't just be kicked out.

Not like this.

Masami's throat felt dry. "W...why?" she croaked out. She realized she had stood up right after he had uttered the phrase.

Hibari's eyes narrowed slightly in response.

"_...Get out._"

"..." Masami couldn't think of anything to say. That hadn't answered her question at all. It felt like a ton of bricks had just dropped on her head. Her voice stuck onto the walls of her throat, preventing her from speaking. She needed to stay in the committee. She still hadn't gotten inside the storage room. She needed...

...to fulfill that promise.

Masami flinched as she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around to see Yamamoto giving her a small hesitant smile.

"Yamamoto-kun..." Even to her, her voice sounded hollow. Masami didn't fully understand why she was so... devastated. Maybe it was because Hibari dismissing her was the same as telling her that he didn't need her _at all_.

What was... this pain in her chest? It was exactly like the same emptiness and hurt contained in the tone of her voice.

Yamamoto grinned at Masami. "Haha. Let's go, Masami. We're going to be late for class if we dawdle any longer." He began to drag Masami out by the wrist. She didn't realize she was willingly following after him only that...

...Yamamoto was there and that they were friends. Masami felt the heaviness on her shoulders lighten a little. Yamamoto gave her a cheerful grin and she couldn't help but return it with a smile.

Masami opened her mouth to tell him she wasn't going to late because she had an extra 10 minutes but the promptly shut her jaw shut as she recalled something.

_Oh right. I've been kicked out of the committee, _Masami thought. There was no longer the frozen feeling in her body. She could finally face everyone properly.

_It was because Yamamoto touched my shoulder. It brought me back to my senses_. Masami reminded herself to thank him as soon as possible_. _She could feel stares on her back and she turned around to meet Hibari's gaze.

"...Here," she said, ripping off the arm band and tossing it carelessly on the ground. Masami scurried out after Yamamoto before she could view Hibari's reaction.

...

Reborn could feel a smile threatening to show on his face. Hibari was glaring at the arm band on the ground. Frankly, he was surprised that the prefect hadn't jumped up from his desk to land a good few hits on Masami. It was hard to believe Hibari could tolerate such disrespect to his committee. Hibari looked away from the piece of cloth, as if it disgusted him to look at it anymore.

"Kusakabe," Hibari said in monotone.

"Yes, Hibari-san." Kusakabe nodded quickly and went to snatch the arm band from the ground and put it on his leader's desk. Hibari's eyes flickered to it once more before he turned his attention to Reborn.

"Why are you here, baby?" Hibari asked.

Reborn stood up and walked over to the desk before hopping up on it. The prefect seemed annoyed by the action but didn't take any action.

The baby tilted his head. "What's with this emergency meeting, Hibari?" He could only imagine what might have happened to force Hibari's hand into letting people, albeit his own members, into his office so readily. Possibly an attack on the committee? That was the only reason Reborn could come up with.

As always, the baby had hit it spot-on.

"...The mischief done on the committee won't be forgiven," Hibari muttered darkly. The statement was said more to himself than at Reborn. Reborn blinked curiously as Hibari glanced at Kusakabe. Kusakabe shivered under Hibari's cold stare but forced himself to act professionally. It would betray the chairman's expectations if he didn't.

"There have eight attacks so far. Most of them being members of the Disciplinary committee." Kusakabe paused in reading his report. His eyes furrowed. "...The one thing that stuck out was that among all the victims, their teeth were removed, each of varying amounts."

Kusakabe turned to Hibari, seeking his orders. They were slowly being backed into a corner; a statement he would never say out loud for fear of incurring his leader's wrath, but even he could tell that Hibari was beginning to get agitated at the mysterious beatings. What could they do against an unseen enemy? All the victims were unconscious from the severity of their injuries, making it impossible to interrogate them on who their attacker was.

"What... do we do, Hibari-san?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow. The baby hadn't thought that Hibari's committee would be in such a situation. They had defeated all the opposing bodies in the town a long time ago so who could be left...?

_Maybe a party outside of Namimori?_ It was likely...

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Reborn, stopping his original train of thought. He smirked.

"It sure is a strange coincidence that at the same time committee members start getting attacked that you dismiss Masami, right Hibari?"

A frown tugged at Hibari's mouth. He stood up slowly.

"Baby..." Reborn returned Hibari's glare with a smile. He was already prepared to jump away when he saw Hibari's tonfas in his hands.

"I'll bite you to death."

* * *

"Phew," Masami sighed out after sliding the door shut. She was leaning against the door. There was no doubt in her mind that Hibari, Reborn and Kusakabe could see her outline through the door's window. She could care less though. She felt _exhausted_. No more perks from being part of the committee. That was **definitely **what was making her feel so gloomy. Not because of Hibari. That's right. No cutting in line, no 10 minute late starts, no more being a curious snoop and looking through the record of stu-

"Masami?"

"H-huh?" Masami looked up to see Yamamoto observing her. He looked worried.

"Are you tired?" he asked as he grabbed her hand and began to pull her down the hall towards their lockers. Because Masami had arrived late in the school year, she'd been assigned to one that just happened to be near Yamamoto's who was in a different year than her. They were definitely late now. The bell had rung long ago.

Masami blinked. Tired? She wasn't before but now that he mentioned it, she did feel weary now.

"I'm not," she lied, resisting the urge to bite her lip. She always bit her lip when she was lying. Yamamoto didn't seem to believe her but didn't inquire any further.

The pair walked in a peaceful silence, Masami looking at the tiles of the ground thoughtfully and Yamamoto casually looking up with his hands behind his head. There was little point in running. They were late, so it didn't matter all that much. Masami sighed. She felt... tired. Maybe going back to the apartment would be best.

It was decided then.

"I'm going to skip..." Masami said. Yamamoto looked surprised.

"Eh? Why?" Yamamoto asked.

"I don't really feel like going to school today." It was a lame excuse but she couldn't think of a good excuse.

"Then I'll skip too." Yamamoto laughed while Masami was incredulous. "Haha. It'll be interesting, right?"

Masami stopped very suddenly. Yamamoto turned to look at her. She was wringing her hands and looked spaced-out.

"I..." She could feel red heating her cheeks in embarrassment. Masami laughed nervously. She felt a little more cheered.

"Thanks, I guess," she said shyly.

Yamamoto grinned. "No one should be alone when they're feeling down."

Masami's eyes widened. He was unaware her eyes had taken an unnatural cloudiness to them as she turned away quickly.

"...No one should be alone," she repeated to herself.

* * *

"Whatcha wanna do first, Masami?" Yamamoto asked Masami as she tried to surreptitiously pull up pants that didn't fit her. The pants belonged to Yamamoto. They had snuck into Yamamoto's home to get some clothes to change out of from their uniforms. They had a tiny mishap shortly after Masami found out Yamamoto wasn't light on his feet like she was. His footsteps were pretty loud and they had been discovered by Yamamoto's father who...

_...had completely ignored the fact we were playing hooky! He'd even wished us a good time with 'exploring our youth'._

What did that even mean?

"Walking around is already fine," Masami said, peering at the different shops around them. They were in the shopping district, just walking around. But...

"I'm already pretty happy just walking." Masami grinned. Yamamoto's mouth slightly parted in surprise. Masami spotted something before he could say a word.

"Wow!" She ran over to the entrance of a store, oblivious to how Yamamoto's cheeks were a suddenly a light pink. What had caught her attention was... colourful... eye-catching... and...

"A photo booth?" Yamamoto had walked up to her and into the store.

"What nice-looking hearts," he hummed out.

"A photo booth," Masami turned to him, already shuffling around in her pockets for change. "Let's take a picture." Yamamoto laughed at her excited disposition.

"Those are my pockets, Masami," Yamamoto pointed out, still laughing. He sobered up quickly when he saw Masami looking at the booth with longing. His gaze softened.

"Why do you want to take a picture, Masami?" Yamamoto asked as he rifled through his own pockets for coins. Masami faced him.

"Because I want to preserve the memories of today." Masami caught Yamamoto's unreadable and slightly confused expression.

_Ugh... Well, that **did **sound pretty corny. _Maybe explaining her train of thought would help make the situation less awkard._  
_

"I have a photo album at home," Masami explained, gesturing with her hands. "I put all the photos I have in there. I have Namimori pictures too. Of you and Tsunayoshi-kun and Gokudera. Even some of Reborn!"

Yamamoto smiled as he inserted some coins into the slot.

"Haha... how adorably old-fashioned!"

_Old-fashioned?_ Really? It was? Masami hadn't thought it was an "old-person" hobby.

"I just like looking back at stuff," Masami muttered defensively, slightly peeved he had implied she was an 'old lady'.

"Sorry!" Yamamoto laughed cheerily and the scowl on Masami's face slowly melted away. She couldn't stay mad at Yamamoto for long.

"But I also said 'adorable', Masami," he offered as he ushered her into the booth.

"Huh...?" Masami managed out and tripped just as the first picture was shot.

* * *

"They turned out horrible." Masami's brows were furrowed as she examined the pictures taken. Four in total were taken and none of them turned out relatively well. In two of them, she had closed her eyes, in one of them it looked like she was grimacing rather than smiling and in the last one she was a complete blur because of her impromptu fall when she was caught off-guard.

She really wasn't photogenic, was she?

Yamamoto hummed thoughtfully as he handed Masami a popsicle. They were both resting on the embankment of the town's river after a long day playing games at the arcade.

_Predictably... Yamamoto was good at every game, _Masami sighed. _...and I wasn't._ She'd missed all the targets in the stupid accuracy games and was only adequate at a the fighting games.

Yamamoto carefully snatched the pictures from Masami's hands as she took a small bite of her popsicle. The sweet tang left a happy tingling sensation in her mouth as she swallowed.

"They're... not that bad..."

He caught Masami's flat look.

Yamamoto laughed, one hand covering his mouth to muffle his snickers. She scowled and was about to lunge to attack her. She was stopped by Yamamoto's hand that was suddenly on her head.

Masami's eyes widened at his enigmatic action. "Yamamoto-kun?"

Yamamoto didn't answer. His head tilted thoughtfully, eyes unreadable, as he pulled a strand of her long hair behind one ear. What was he doing? She didn't move, half-worried about what was wrong with her friend and half-curious as to what he was doing.

_Lately, he's been acting weird..._ Masami noted inwardly. She couldn't figure out why either. She was acquiescent to his hands lightly trailing the soft curve of his jaw. She tried to keep herself from fidgeting as his thumb trailed across her cheek to land on her bottom lip.

...Was it just her or was Yamamoto leaning closer to her? She stiffened, eyes wide and confused. Yamamoto caught the look in her eyes. He stared at Masami for a long time, with her staring right back.

"Sorry about that," he murmured. His hand let go of its position on her cheek and he moved away from her.

Masami blinked. He was... back to normal now...

Still, Masami couldn't help but wonder what the heck he had been planning on doing. She eyed him. He was back to his old self, happily eating the frozen treat in his hand like he had all the time in the world and _did not _undergo a personality change just five seconds ago. Masami noted to herself to keep an eye on Yamamoto. That change in him just then had made her feel nervous. Was Yamamoto ill or something? That was all that Masami could think of as to the reason why he had acted strangely. Yamamoto's laugh interrupted Masami's train of thought. Her eyes widened. He was already done with his popsicle? She looked to her own, which was beginning to melt and make her hands sticky.

"You look..." Yamamoto paused "...older."

_Erm... _Masami felt the weight of the necklace against her chest double. Akane had said the same thing right before she left. It... couldn't be, right? As soon as this was impossible, wasn't it? Rei had said that as long as he was there, _it _wouldn't fade.

_But Rei is gone,_ Masami's conscious pointed out. _He died a long time ago._

Ah...right.

Her chest felt all tight again and she quelled the urge to put her fist over it. It would only worry Yamamoto.

Ugh... Great. Now she was worried and feeling slightly depressed. This wasn't good for her while she tried to make up an excuse at the same time._  
_

"I..." Masami didn't know what to say. Nothing was coming to mind.

_Come on! Work brain, work! _

Her brain gave her nothing.

"It... must have been something I did with my hair?" Masami said slowly, cringing inwardly when she realized she had made it sound like a question.

Her heart was pounding like a rabbit as she grinned nervously at Yamamoto, willing him to believe her outrageous claim. She should have said she had been putting on make-up or something. Logically, wouldn't that have been the better lie to say? Masami's heart stopped as he grinned at her.

"Oh, is that it?" he said. She nodded furiously, relieved. Yes, that was exactly it!

"That clip looks nice. I guess it's the reason then," Yamamoto continued on.

Masami face-faulted. Clip? What clip? Her hand slapped at her forehead and she could feel something prickle her palm.

"Hibari's clip!" Masami blurted out automatically. She'd forgotten she'd even been wearing it. Masami snatched the clip from her hair, bangs falling to make a curtain over her face. She looked at it, lips pursed. She'd been wearing it ever since that day. It never crossed her mind to throw it out since it was useful and looked nice. Should she throw it out now?

"Hibari's clip?" Yamamoto asked, brows furrowed. "You mean he gave it to you?" Masami nodded, oblivious to the disappearance of Yamamoto's smile. She was looking at the pink clip. Should she throw it away?

_That seems like such a waste though..._ She would figure it all out when she got back home. Right now was bonding time with Yamamoto.

"You were saying something about the pictures," Masami murmured, pocketing the clip in one of the huge pockets of the track pants. She discreetly hiked the pants up so that they weren't hanging off her hips as much. Yamamoto brightened.

"Oh yeah. I wanted to say that the next time will be much better," Yamamoto amended merrily, putting down the photos on the grass between them. Masami blinked. The next time? Did that mean he planned on skipping school with her again sometime in the future?

"You don't need to do that," Masami said. She didn't want him skipping again because of her. Yamamoto shook his head.

"I'll do it again because I want to," he said softly. "It's fun being with you like this." Masami smiled. Yamamoto really was a kind person like she had first thought, wasn't he? She'd seen the way he treated everyone around him, from his fangirls to his teammates to regular classmates who waved hi to him in the hallways. Masami shrugged off his kind words.

"I don't think I'll be skipping again though, Yamamoto-kun." She didn't even really understand why she had decided to today. For some reason, she'd felt so emotional after her conversation with Hibari.

"I think I was just a bit upset is all-"

"Because of Hibari?"

Masami immediately snapped her head to find Yamamoto looking at her seriously.

"Why... would you say that...?" she asked slowly, genuinely confused. She was upset about all the perks she wouldn't be getting anymore. _**Certainly not **about some dark-haired, steely-eyed jerk who can't get the damn stick out of his-_

"Masami?"

She swiveled around to meet his gaze and shot him a forced smile, which was a vast improvement from the demonic expression she just had on. Why did she feel so irritated now?

"Yes?"

Yamamoto carefully observed her for a long time. His expression softened when he found what he was looking for. He grinned and ruffled her hair until it looked like a birds' nest. Frowning, she moved her hands to pat it down.

"It's good you're like this, Masami," he remarked. "Haha, though I can't say it'll be any easier for me getting through to you, but still. It's good."

Masami blinked. What was he going on about?

"...Okay?"

* * *

_"What's that?" a smaller version of Masami asked, pointing to the pretty necklace Rei was holding in his hands. It was fairly plain. A simple strong-looking black string with a indigo-coloured gem. But there was something about it that made Masami unable to take her eyes of it. It was dull and opaque, reflecting no light whatsoever, but somehow to her, it looked like it was glowing._

_"It's magic," Rei said as he pulled the necklace over her head and hung it around her neck._

_"Magic?" Masami asked flatly. She was 11, not stupid. "I'm not five, Rei."_

_Rei's normally cold eyes warmed up a bit at her declaration.  
_

_"I know that," he said quietly. "It's a disguise then... We're going to hide."_

_Masami nodded slowly. That was all he had to say for her to understand. She looked down at the necklace on her collar bone. It felt warm and was still glowing. She thought that, for a moment, she saw a small indigo fire flicker in the stone._

_When she blinked, it disappeared, causing her to think it had just been her imagination.

* * *

_**Anon./PM-disabled Reviewers Response Corner (**Everyone else can ignore this**):**

I dislike responding to reviews in the story since it **disillusions the readers **into thinking the chapter is longer than it is, and to me, that really isn't fair. A few times I've been disappointed to see a really long-looking chapter of a story I like only to have half of the page be filled with replies to that writer's reviewers. That being said, I feel a bit guilty for not responding to some reviews, which is why I'll respond here but they will be significantly shorter than my PM replies.

**Inwhichyou...myname:** This site won't let me type your full name for some reason. Well, anyway, we had all been waiting for it, including me! My fingers were itching to just get to the end when I was doing chapter 11. X)  
**SnowieG27: **Good thing I wrote it in chunks! Yeah, the last part is pretty, "wtf' in a good or bad way.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh, Hibari, you! :) Even though this had some Yamamoto action in it, for the next two chapters (The whole Kokuyo Arc), there will be **little to no romance**. Sorry about that. ): But you'll get a lot of information on Masami. I'm not sure how many of you are interested in that though LOL.

There's a reason I updated on a Sunday! (Monday to some of you) It's because I would like to advertise an** KHR RP forum** I joined two days ago! We need more canon characters (but OC ones are good too). If you're even _remotely _interested, just go to my profile for the link. I was sort of iffy when I first heard of RP, but** it's really just like writing a story with multiple writers.** Much, much more fun than I thought LOL. Perhaps mention your interest in it in a review and we can talk about it like two peas in a nooby pod...? :) Yes, it's my first RP so we can be newbie buddies together. XD

It'd make me more stoked if people joined than if people reviewed. Not to say I don't want to see what you thought of this chapter, of course.

Thanks for reading and **please review** to tell me what you thought!

* * *

**Next Chapter: Invincible**

_'I really can't do this...'_

_**"It was EXTREMELY nice meeting you, Sakata!"**_

_"Masami-san... please stop twisting my words..."_

_**"It irritates me... Why do people think Hibari's some sort of invincible being..."**_


	13. Invincible

**A/N: **Thank you to **Chocolate Ribbons**, **X-CrystalJade-X**, **Senna-Namikaze**,** hiyomi**, **stuffedninja101**,** DarkRoadHina**,** fuwacch**i, **xenocanaan**, **TheFoolArcana** (twice :)), **Phantasmatis Rubramentum**, **HibariTsunayoshi-kun**,** Kichou **and **DatAznKid** for reviewing. You guys are awesome! :)

If you could point out any grammar mistakes and the like, that'd be great.

* * *

**Possession  
Chapter 13: Invincible**

Masami stood in front of the hospital, lips in a tight line as she stared at the innocent-looking building. In one arm was a bundle of flowers she had picked from the river's edge. Masami covered her nose with her hand as she accidentally took a huge whiff of the brightly-coloured wildflowers and sneezed loudly. Because of baseball practice, she and Yamamoto had ended up going back to the school. Masami found it funny how he had little qualms of skipping school with her but insisted they go back to school in order for him to be on time for his practice.

_The cute sort of funny, _Masami mused. She sighed and swallowed hard. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about playing hooky.

"All right! I'm going to go in there and..." Pause. "Yeah! I'm just going to go in there.

Masami bravely took a few steps forward...

...only to retreat back.

She frowned.

_I really can't do this..._

Masami bit her lip. There was a reason why she was at the hospital. She was visiting Kyoko's older brother. Ryohei, was it? He'd been hurt and though Masami didn't know him personally, she was acquainted with Kyoko. She didn't think she had met him before but was nevertheless worried about him.

Masami recalled her brief conversation with a teary Kyoko over the phone. The girl had been trying to find Tsuna and ended up asking Masami where he was. In all honesty, Masami thought he had gone home seeing as how he had no after school activities but when she had gone to his house...

_...he wasn't there._

His kind mother had informed Masami that he hadn't returned home yet.

Masami exhaled loudly. What a time for Tsuna to disappear when his crush was worrying herself sick over her bed-ridden brother. Yes. Even _she _knew Tsuna was in love with Kyoko. It wasn't hard to tell and he was terrible at hiding it.

Masami shook her head. Now _also _wasn't the time to be thinking about Tsuna's crushes! She had to go visit that poor boy who had sprained his foot.

...She had to admit she was a_ tiny_ bit befuddled as to why falling off the roof of a bath house had ended up with him being hospitalized for a **sprain **but...

_...to each their own._

And there was also the problem of how...

_...I've been standing out here for 20 minutes..._ Masami thought flatly. Really, 20 minutes was long enough to be cowering from a building that was made to _help _people. But...

She _really _hated hospitals._ Ugh, dammit._

With one last sharp inhale, Masami marched towards the looming building.

...

Masami blanched as the cold air hit her, making goosebumps prickle uncomfortably on her bare arms. The odour of various medicines and sterilized cleaners made her grimace while the fluorescent lights above her made her eyes ache. Masami was beginning to feel sick, but steeled herself. She looked up from her view of the tiled floor. Her eyes widened.

What was with the amount of people in the lobby?

Or rather, the amount of **Namimori students** in the lobby?

Her eyes furrowed in anxiety. _What could be wrong for there to be so many students here?_

As Masami walked past them, she could hear broken whispers float around as the uniformed teens gossiped among each other, tones frantic and scared.

_-Fourteen so far, but it could be more since that was five hours ago..._

_-...span of one day..._

_-...more and more serious. So scary!_

Masami's frown stayed there until she reached the designated room. What had that been all about? She shook her head furiously. She'd think about it later. Looking up, Masami knocked on the door and heard a girl's voice saying, "_Come in._"

Masami opened the door. She forced the frown off her face and settled for a small smile as Kyoko's eyes turned to look at her.

"Senpai!" Kyoko made her way to Masami, a cute smile on her face. "You came!"

"Yep." Masami handed the younger girl the bundle of flowers awkwardly. "Here's some flowers..." They weren't the best get-well gift. Already, Masami could see that the petals of some of the flowers were drooping and becoming dry. Nevertheless, Kyoko accepted them with a gratefulness that only made Masami feel more guilty.

"Thank you. They're beautiful." Kyoko beamed. "I'll go ask the nurse for something to hold them in. Please keep my onii-chan company, senpai." The girl bowed quickly and darted out of the room before Masami could reply.

...Now Masami was left in an awkward situation with someone she didn't know.

She turned and her eyes widened to the size of saucer plates. Kyoko had said it was just a sprain but why the hell was he covered in numerous bandages then? His "sprained" leg was held up by supports and there were bandages wrapped around his torso.

Masami blinked.

Did he _really _just have a sprained leg?

"HI THERE!" Ryohei yelled. Masami jumped at his loud voice. He grinned and she noted he was missing teeth. "Are you one of Kyoko's friends!"

Masami shook her head vigourously.

"Not at all!" She waved her hands in front of her before smiling. She didn't know Kyoko enough to call her a friend. "More of an acquaintance but..." She smiled. "I'd like to be a friend of hers one day..."

Ryohei's brows furrowed seriously.

"I'm sure Kyoko already thinks of you as a friend!" he exclaimed as Masami walked up to his bedside to hesitantly sit on the stool he was gesturing too.

"She's a nice girl!"

Masami nodded as she fingered the daisies that were already there. "Yeah, she is..."

Should she ask? It seemed a bit rude to just out of the blue ask Ryohei about his injuries but she had a feeling his wounds had something to do with the students back on the first floor. It wasn't just for her own curiosity's sake that she wanted to know.

_If I can do something, I'm going to do it,_ Masami thought.

"Ryohei-san..."

Ryohei pumped his fist in the air. "YES?"

Masami turned to face Ryohei fully and looked straight into his enthusiastic eyes.

"...You didn't fall off the roof of a bath house, did you?"

Masami bit her lip as Ryohei sobered up immediately and looked away. That wasn't a good sign, was it?

Ryohei looked down and shook his head slowly.

"No, I was fighting with a boy from -what's that school called again? OH! KOKUYO! RIGHT!" His fist clenched tighter in front of him and Masami stepped back warily from the fire burning in his eyes.

'We were fighting EXTREMELY! He was EXTREMELY good! I want him to join the boxing team!"

Masami glanced at Ryohei's wounds. _'Extremely' is one way of calling it... And... what's this about the boxing team?_ Masami's eyes widened. Now she remembered. This boy was Sasagawa Ryohei. She'd seen a file on him. He was supposedly the current captain of the boxing club._  
_

"Then..." she looked up to smile wryly at his burning eyes. His liveliness was infectious. She could feel herself getting less tired just looking at him. "Do you know why there are so many Nami students downstairs?"

"THERE ARE STUDENTS DOWNSTAIRS?" Ryohei yelled, looking 'extremely' confused. Masami covered up a grimace as she stood up. Her ears were ringing.

_I guess that means no... _She was slowly getting there. Piecing the puzzle together to unravel why there were so many students in the lobby and why a student, Ryohei, happened to be hurt on the same day everyone decided to come visit the hospital._  
_

She bowed slightly to Ryohei who was punching the air in front of him. He noticed and turned towards her, enthusiasm dying down.

Ryohei frowned.

"Please don't tell Kyoko." His voice was at a normal volume, making Masami surprised that he **could **speak at a normal volume. "I don't want her to worry about me."

"I won't tell her," Masami promised but not only because of Ryohei's request was she deciding to withhold information from the sweet girl. She also didn't want Kyoko involved any more in whatever was happening than necessary. Masami sighed. She had to go now. If Ryohei had been beaten up by this mysterious Kokuyo student, then who else would be next? "

"I'm going to go, Ryohei-san. It was nice meeting you."

Ryohei pumped his fist in the air.

"All right! It's a promise then!" Ryohei yelled. "And it was EXTREMELY nice meeting you too, umm..."

"Sakata Masami," she supplied.

Ryohei grinned, teeth showing. She returned it with a smile. He was acting fine, like he hadn't 'sprained' (Masami knew better now) anything.

"BYE SAKATA! WE SHOULD BOX WITH EACH OTHER ONE DAY!"

Masamiled nodded amicably, half her face obscured by the door. _Now _his liveliness was tiring her out a little.

"That would be nice..."

* * *

Maybe... there was a (low) possibility of the school being attacked. She thought it was a low possibility since whoever was attacking Hibari's school must be _reaally _stupid...

_...or really strong..._

Masami **knew **that the Disciplinary Committee would be involved in some way, shape or form. She sighed. They were _always _involved in something to do with fighting. She looked up at the bright lights above her contemplatively. Most likely the attacking party were Kokuyo students against the Disciplinary Committee, with Namimori Middle students caught in the middle.

Masami frowned angrily. How dare that stupid bastard Hibari drag innocents into his gang fight like this? This was too dastardly, even for him.

She was going back to school to set him straight.

Masami marched determinedly to the elevator, ire burning in her eyes. Hibari was really going to get a piece of her mind once she-

"Ah yes, I'm really fine. Thank you very much, nurse-san," a familiar voice said.

She almost got whiplash as her head snapped towards the open door of a room she was about to walk by. Had that been Kusakabe's voice?

Masami tentatively poked her head through the door.

"KU-KUSAKABE-SAN?" she yelled loudly and pointed at him in amazement. Lo and behold, Kusakabe was on a hospital bed receiving an IV drip from a grouchy-looking nurse. He, like Ryohei, was wrapped in bandages and looked almost like a mummy. He had on even more bandages than Ryohei!

"SHHH!" the nurse hissed out, turning to glare at the gaping Masami but otherwise ignored her to put a bandaid on the open needle prick on Kusakabe's arm.

The nurse ignored Masami's embarrassed 'sorry' and glared at the sheepish Kusakabe who was glancing at Masami while trying to politely face the nurse at the same time. The result was him looking cross-eyed. The nurse ignored his strange behaviour and picked up the report by his bedside.

"You won't be out of the hospital for at least a week," she informed him. "Nine broken bones, fractures in 12 of them that aren't broken, various small deep holes that look like it came from needles all over your body..." The nurse carelessly tossed the report on the table after finishing. Without another word, she stomped past Masami grumbling, _"Moronic kids... Taking up our beds because of their fights..."_

Masami had to silently agree with the nurse but the woman didn't _really _have to phrase it like that.

_Still.._. Masami frowned suspiciously at Kusakabe who was looking at his bandaged hands.

"You id-i-ot," she grumbled as she walked up to her ex-superior. Masami sat down on the stool beside him without waiting to ask for permission.

It was a vast difference from Masami's countenance with Sasagawa Ryohei. But who could blame her? Masami now knew that the idiotic boys of the Disciplinary Committee, led by the monkey boss Hibari, were in the middle of a gang fight with ignorant students stuck in the crossfire.

She was_ also _mad because she had an tiny bitty eensy-weensy inkling Kusakabe was hiding something from her. The fact he wasn't maintaining eye contact with her was a dead giveaway.

"Kusakabe-san." Masami's eyes narrowed and she leaned in and he stiffened.

"What the **hell** is happening?" she said sweetly with a smile on her face. Kusakabe fumbled under her scrutinizing glare. He didn't seem to be doing too good under the pressure. That suited Masami just fine. She was going to keep glaring at him until he spilled his guts for her.

"I... I was..." Kusakabe looked at Masami's serious face before exhaling resignedly. "I was... attacked outside the hospital," he admitted.

"I already know that," she said. He looked surprised at her declaration. "Kusakabe-san... it's pretty obvious _something_ is happening. I'm not stupid."

Kusakabe frowned. "It would be easier to hide this whole string of incidents if you were..." he muttered under his breath, expecting her not to hear. She did, and quite clearly too.

What did Kusakabe mean by 'hide'? He was purposely hiding this whole thing from her then?

_Why?_

"I'll explain from the beginning then, Masami-san." Kusakabe tried to reach for the cup of water at his bedside. He couldn't. Masami wasn't just about to help him either, even when he was looking at her with those haggard eyes. She was still miffed Kusakabe had been trying to hide whatever the hell was happening. Kusakabe coughed awkwardly and dropped his hand.

"It all began two nights ago. One of our members was attacked by someone... That would have been fine since it would have most likely just been a personal quarrel but..."

"...it wasn't," Masami finished. She reluctantly got the the water and handed it to him. He nodded in thanks and took a huge gulp. Kusakabe sighed after finishing the glass and put down the cup.

"Since then, 20 people have been attacked and it doesn't seem like it's going to be stopping any time soon. Some of them have been students but most of them have been members of the committee. All of the people who've been attacked have had their teeth pulled out."

Masami's eyes widened. Ah, so that was why Kusakabe was talking with a bit of a lisp...

"So... you kept this from me because...?" Masami still couldn't think of any plausible reason why. She would have found out about it eventually. Why try to hide it from her? She'd already pieced together most of it before talking to Kusakabe.

Kusakabe squirmed uncomfortably. "...Hibari-san thought that, being you, you would do something... I'm quoting directly from Hibari-san, 'drastic and unnecessary.'"

Masami's jaw dropped.

"D-DRASTIC AND UNNECESSARY?" Kusakabe winced at her volume. "Why does he keep treating me like a total kid!"

Masami fell back on the stool, arms crossed and thoroughly steamed now. He was only one year older than her. Who did that bastard think he was?

Kusakabe shook his head. "That isn't it, he's just worried you'll..." He seemed very reluctant to continue. "...hurt yourself."

Masami cocked her head. "...So he thinks I'm weak and I'll get in his way, is that it?"

He stared flatly at her, making her flush in confusion.

"W-what?"

"Masami-san..." Kusakabe put down the glass and looked at her. "Please stop twisting my words." He caught her indignant expression and red face and moved _right along._

"A-ANYWAY," he spluttered. "You don't need to go and do anything since Hibari-san is already in Kokuyo, taking care of the troublemakers." He was surprised to be faced with an even redder face.

"What do you mean he's in Kokuyo taking care of the troublemakers?" Masami ground out. Kusakabe blinked nervously.

"He's alone there punishing the people responsible?" he reworded carefully. Her teeth gnashed and Kusakabe's grip tightened on his sheets. God, she was scary when she got angry.

"No. I understood what you said. What I _don't_ get is why he's there alone," Masami said, nearly growling. She stood up and made her way to the door.

Kusakabe paled. "Wait! Where are you going, Masami-san?" He was now struggling to get out of his bed, seeming to know what she was planning on doing. Masami turned to give him a plaintive smile.

"Going to Kokuyo." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kusakabe had now fallen back on the bed. His injuries were to severe for him to stand up.

"Why...?" he asked, honestly perplexed by her actions. Masami paused before opening the door. Her back was faced to Kusakabe.

"...It's irritating that everybody thinks that Hibari's invincible," were her parting words. The door slid closed with a snap.

...

Kusakabe repeated the phrase in his head. What did she mean by that exactly?

Ah... wait...

He sighed, understanding what Masami meant.

...Wasn't that just her roundabout way of saying she was worried about the chairman? He shook his head. Really, these two were so...- it was either totally oblivious or totally stubborn. Well, he wouldn't meddle with Hibari's affairs. It was tiring enough keeping up with his leader on a _ regular _basis.

Kusakabe turned to the window, bags under his eyes.

"Hibari-san is going to kill me if he finds out I let Masami-san go like that," the prefect muttered to himself.

* * *

Masami was on a bus to Kokuyo when her cell phone rang.

The far-off gaze directed outside at the passing scenery disappeared and she twitched at the sudden invasion of noise. Who could be calling her right now? Masami's eyes widened. Maybe one of her friends? She'd gone to the school to look for Yamamoto just to see if he was all right. His club members had told her he was at the nurse's and visiting Gokudera. When she had finished sprinting to the nurse's office, the only person in said room was an apathetic Shamal. He refused to tell her anything.

_Frustrating..._ Masami grinded her teeth together as she recalled it. She snapped open the phone.

"Hello?" Masami said into the phone, not really in the mood for idle chat.

"Masami," a squeaky voice greeted. "Where are you?"

"Reborn-san?" She paused when she heard the sounds of an explosion. "I-I'm going to a bus to Kokuyo." Another explosion. "Where the hell are **you**?"

"In Kokuyo Health Land," he said nonchalantly. She distinctly heard the sounds of the shrieks of a familiar boy. _Tsunayoshi-kun?_

"Why are you and Tsunayoshi-kun there?" Masami asked, meanwhile biting her lip and willing the bus driver to pick up the pace. The driver didn't appreciate her frantic hand gestures and glared at her through the mirror. She glared right back.

"Actually,_ -hurry up and climb up that ladder, you idiot-_ We're **all **here. Including Gokudera's sister, Bianchi. We left about two hours ago from Namimori." Masami's jaw dropped. They invited Gokudera's sister but not her? What gives!

"They didn't want you to get hurt," Reborn said, answering her unspoken question."I was all for asking you to come with us if it makes you feel any better."

She didn't know whether to be flattered that they cared about her or mad that they couldn't rely on her. Masami opted for the second one after briefly thinking.

"I can defend myself fine." She ran a hand through her hair. She felt weary now. Maybe it was the long bus ride but Masami was well aware it was more that she was... disheartened by the fact that her friends thought they couldn't rely on her.

"Maybe," Reborn admitted. "But we're dealing with high-level criminals here. Yamamoto's unconscious and right now under a bush and Hibari's most likely off somewhere dying right now."

What did he mean Yamamoto was under a bush? No, more importantly, Hibari was _dying_?

Masami tried to formulate words but all she could come up with was a one-worded croak of, "...Dying?"

"Yep." The baby didn't sound too worried. "Oh, we're here now. _Tsuna, find a way to open the door and I'll finish talking to Masami._" Masami heard frantic spluttering and raised an eyebrow. Was that Tsuna? "She's on her way here right now. -sigh- _Don't look at me like that, Tsuna._" She was assuming the baby was talking to his student right now. The conversation was faded since Reborn had most likely moved the phone away from him to talk to Tsuna. She could still hear Reborn though.

_"MASAMI-SAN! Please don't come! I don't want anyone else to get- HIIEE!" _Tsuna's voice was cut-off by an unknown force. Masami blinked. That had been the only coherent thing that she had heard from her friend.

"Hello? _Pick yourself off the ground. My kick wasn't that hard._" Ah... it was Reborn again. "We have to go, Masami. Off to go face the final boss and whatnot," he explained offhandedly. Masami sweatdropped. As always, the baby was calm about situations that didn't merit the calmness.

"Anything you want to say?" Reborn asked.

Masami paused to think.

"Tell Tsunayoshi-kun that I appreciate the sentiment but... doing nothing would be even worse."

She could feel the baby's smirk through the phone. How was that even possible...?

"Will do."

The phone ended with a beep and all the girl could do was stare at the phone in her lap, determination renewed.

* * *

The sound of an explosion rocked the foundation of the old building.

Gokudera managed to grimace triumphantly. Even in this state, he couldn't miss a wall that was just six feet behind him. He could only hope his assumption was right though or else all he had just done would have been wasting his last stick of dynamite.

"AHAHAHA!" It was that stupid dog boy again. "What the hell was that? Your aim was soo off!" he jeered.

"Ken..." the glasses boy said in warning. "...We need to kill him."

Ken 'hmphed'. "Stupid Kakipii! I know that! Hold on. I'll do it." Gokudera heard the footsteps of someone coming down the stairs in front of him. In contrast, he heard nothing at the wall behind him except for the pervert's bird singing the school's dorky anthem. He had thought for sure the prefect had been behind that wall.

_Shit... Don't tell me I was wrong,_ Gokudera thought. He could feel his consciousness slipping. He was losing too much blood too fast. Strangely enough, the silver-haired boy wasn't that worried about his situation. Maybe it was the blood loss or the fact that the adrenaline pumping in his body was wearing off but all Gokudera could feel as he lay there was happiness that the boss (and grudgingly, his sister) weren't in this situation-

"Hey..." The sound of footsteps accompanied the dark voice. Gokudera resisted the urge to grin. He mouth hurt too much to grin.

Gokudera could see Hibari appear in front of him through his good eye. The other one was forced shut by the heavy bruise on it.

The prefect wasn't in any better shape than him. Perhaps even worse for wear than him. There were scratches all over him, bruises mottling his visible skin. Maybe it was just him, but Gokudera thought he saw a limp as Hibari walked. A broken leg?

On the other hand, Hibari Kyoya was the only thing he had right now to defend against the mafia bastards.

"...Can I take care of these small fry?" Hibari asked coolly. Gokudera could hear the forced calm in the prefect's voice. Boy, was he pissed. That was good though. A pissed Hibari was more likely to kill, which was Gokudera's goal.

"Be my guest," Gokudera wheezed out before he closed his eyes, sleep finally taking over.

...

"HAH!" Ken's tone was condescending. "This is the reinforcements! A half-dead guy? How la-aame!"

Hibari turned slowly to face the animal boy, his smirk bloodthirsty and unforgiving.

"Prepare yourself..." Hibari kicked his tonfas expertly and they jumped into his hands. He held one in front of his face, the smirk never leaving his features.

"...since I'm going to_ bite _you to death."

* * *

**Reviewer Corner:  
**

**DarkRoadHina: **After this arc, there will be some for sure. :)  
**Phantasmatis Rubramentum: **Thanks! And yes, join! We need people.

* * *

**A/N: **Kokuyo Arc will be wrapped up next chapter. And there will be a small surprise concerning Masami. On that note, **The Fool Arcana **drew me fanart of Masami. She inspired me to make my own interpretation of Masami too! :) Both links to the pictures are in my profile. It'd be great if you checked it out!

Thank you for reading! Your reviews make these weekly updates possible, so please tell me what you thought of this chapter. :)

* * *

**Next Chapter: Secret**

_'Why is the smell of blood so strong?'_

_**"You really are an interesting girl, Masami-chan."**_

_"Mafia? **More **mafia?"_

_**"Hibari..."**  
_


	14. Secret

A/N: Thank you to **fuwacchi**, **DarkRoadHina**, **The Fool Arcana**,** Kichou**, **xenocanaan**, **SnowieG27**, **Chocolate Ribbons**, **demon twin**, **ausumist**,** leogirl321**,** hiyomi**, **HibariTsunayoshi-kun**, **DatAznKid**, **aurla0**, **MikaUchiha666**, **stuffedninja101**, **XxMichyBabyxX** and **Senna-Namikaze**! This chapter's extra long for you guys. :)

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 14: Secret**

"Reborn! Why did you encourage Masami to come?" Tsuna asked him, nearly hysterical.

More of his friends were going to be hurt because of him now. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to Masami. He was already feeling bad enough they had to leave Yamamoto under a bush while they went to defeat Mukuro. Not only did he have to leave Yamamoto but they had sacrificed Gokudera so that they could advance to the next floor to where Mukuro was.

_Well... _Tsuna turned to look at the woman beside him. At least he still had Bianchi. She was still okay.

She was presently walking in front of him and throwing poisonous pies at every door they passed by. He cringed at the noxious fumes permeating his nose and the sight of melting doors.

Reborn sighed. "If you don't want her to get hurt either, then you should finish defeating Mukuro quickly."

Tsuna pointed to the baby. "That's easy for **you **to say! You're not the one who has to defeat the guy!"

Reborn responded by grabbing the boy's finger and bending it with his hand.

"G-OWWW!"

"Masami told me to tell you guys that doing nothing would be worse than doing something," Reborn said. Tsuna blinked.

_Masami-san... _His mouth was set in a tight line of guilt.

Reborn sighed. "You should have more confidence in your family, Tsuna. This includes Masami." Tsuna glared. _Again _with the mafia?

"I'm not part of the mafia! None of us are part of the mafia!" he screeched. Reborn frowned and then kicked him in the shin.

"OW!" Tsuna cried out and went on his good knee. "That really hurt, Reborn!"

"Then rely on Masami as a friend. Not even as a friend will you rely on her?" Reborn demanded. Tsuna's eyes widened. They were friends. That was a sure fact. Masami had helped him from even before they were friends, when he was in the tree. Tsuna's brown eyes darkened as he thought back to her _trying _to help his stupid head get around his homework or when she had visited his house once to cook dinner on that one rare night his mom had gone out to a concert or something.

Reborn gazed at his student's thoughtful face before smiling. It looked like his no-good student was starting to understand a bit.

Bianchi turned to them seriously, orange goggles glinting in the faint light. "...This is the last door on the floor."

Tsuna and Reborn looked up to see double doors looming over them. They were on the uppermost floor, where the cinema was. Tsuna faintly remembered that this door may be the one to the cinema.

He felt really sick all of a sudden.

Reborn smiled. "Well, let's go."

Tsuna frowned sadly, clutching his stomach now. "Yeah...

* * *

Masami had said that she didn't want to just sit around and do nothing... but...

"What am I supposed to do in this state?" she asked, looking down thoughtfully at her hands. Masami hadn't thought as far as to what she _could _do once she came to the Kokuyo Health Land. It'd been more of an impulse than anything to jump on a bus going to the neighbouring town.

Crap. Masami stared more intensely at her hands, oblivious to how silly she looked from an outsiders' perspective; a little girl standing in front of a broken door and staring at her soft hands. Wouldn't she just get in the way like this? These people were dangerous criminals, not a bunch of kiddy punks who would run away at the first sign of danger. Masami sighed. She was pretty strong but not strong enough or confident enough to deal with first-rate criminals in the position she was in now.

If it was... back to about five years ago... she would rush in there with no hesitation! Masami's fingers curled inwards into fists. The calluses that had been there on her hands back then were gone, hidden by Rei's 'magic'.

_"You have to promise me you won't take it off, all right?"_

_"...Okay..."_

Masami slapped her cheeks, dispelling any useless thoughts. Right now she had to focus on why the heck was she here, not on any past memories!

The brown-haired girl was still debating on what to do when she heard something exploding on the uppermost floor. Her eyes widened for a moment at the rain of glass from the now-broken windows falling above her. She caught herself staring and shielded herself from the sharp shards. Some would have landed in her eyes if she hadn't realized she was staring. Masami tilted her head up again with an irritated expression pasted on her features.

_Okay, screw it! _she thought. She was just going to go in and make it up as she went. At the _very _least, she could use herself as bait or another target if help was needed.

Masami ran inside the back door of the building and gagged when the air hit her. It almost toppled her over. The scent of blood was so strong. The metallic smell wafting through the air almost made the girl want to throw up, but she held it in. Masami slowly breathed in through her mouth, calming herself down. This wasn't the time to be showing weakness. Steps unfaltering, she ran down the dilapidated hallways of the old building.

It was eerie. There was no one, it was entirely empty, yet...

_Then why is the smell of blood so strong?_

Masami gulped in air through her mouth and held a hand to her nose as she ran. It was more instinct than anything driving her to the front, where she assumed the main staircases were.

Masami could feel it; the presence of people above her on the upper floors. That was where she would _hopefully_ find Tsuna and the others.

Why hadn't they asked her to come with them?

Masami was sort of hurt at how none of them had invited her. Namimori was her school too. And of course she would care about people getting beat up. She _had _been part of the Disciplinary Committee, after all. Thinking about the committee made her think of Hibari who was probably _not_ dying like Reborn had said. The infant tended to exaggerate things.

Masami briefly wondered if she would find Hibari in a place like this then, but dismissed it almost immediately. He had most likely taken care of the problem and was back in the school on the roof, sleeping.

_But_ it was still possible that her friends were still in the building, hurt.

_DAMMIT, YOU GUYS! _she thought angrily as she skidded to a stop to turn a corner. _Why didn't you guys invite me? It's because I'm a girl, isn't it! _

Masami saw it up ahead. The lobby where most likely elevators (that did not work anymore) and _surely_ stairs were contained in. She burst in through the doorway and blinked.

The stairs. They weren't there anymore. All that was left were the telltale signs of cement and stone in pieces on the ground of what _used_ to be the stairs.

She flushed red in anger. Why were the stairs broken?

"Crap!"

* * *

"Thank god it's is over!" Tsuna exclaimed, tears threatening to spill. Hibari really was amazing to defeat Rokudo Mukuro single-handedly like that! His brows furrowed as he looked down at the prefect's unconscious form. Hibari had fainted the moment after Mukuro was defeated.

Reborn smirked proudly. "He was fighting unconscious during the last bit of the fight."

"W-we should take him to the hospital," Tsuna stuttered, recalling how Mukuro had said that most of Hibari's bones were broken. The prefect must be in a lot of pain right now, judging from the grimace on the boy's sleeping face.

"It's fine..." Reborn said, preoccupied by Leon who was changing shapes again. "The Vongola's special medical team is on their wa-"

A loud bang from a door interrupted Reborn. Three pairs of eyes turned to see a familiar girl looking around furiously, eyes seemingly still unused to the darkness.

Gokudera's cigarette dropped from his mouth. "Y-you!"

Tsuna gaped. "M-Masami-san! What are you doing here!" He hadn't thought she'd be able to get up here so quickly since the only way up the building was by an emergency ladder. Still... Tsuna smiled a bit. He was glad she had come late. Mukuro was already thoroughly defeated.

Masami swiveled around to see Tsunayoshi, standing there with Gokudera by his side.. Tsuna flinched as her eyes darkened considerably. In five quick strides, she was in front of him.

And in the next moment, Tsuna could feel a harsh blow against his face as he was punched in the face with her heavy fist. He was thrown back two feet and landed painfully on his back. He sat up slowly, groaning. The look of shock on his face was laughable. Reborn was a safe distance back from the panting Masami and decided to let out a little snicker of joy from his student's pain.

"You bitch!" Gokudera started for Masami, furious. "I'm going to kill-"

"SHUT UP!" Masami shouted suddenly. The silver-haired boy faltered at Masami's command, mouth matching his boss's open mouth. If there were any flies around, they would have definitely gone in. _She _was shouting at _them_? Her hair was shielding her eyes from their view but when she looked up, all of them could see it; the anger and hurt in her expressive eyes.

"You're all so stupid!" Masami grabbed onto Gokudera's collar just because he was right in front of her and began to shake him. "Why didn''t any of you ask for help!" Tsuna cringed on behalf of poor Gokudera, who was being shaken violently. "Is this you trying to show how manly you all are? Because if it is, you all completely _suck _at it!" She stopped shaking the very dizzy Gokudera and dropped him unceremoniously. He landed on the dusty hardwood with a thump. Masami turned to Tsuna, a vicious gleam in her eyes.

"HIII!" Tsuna clutched his hair. He _really _didn't want to deal with this right now. His entire body ached, his nerves were now completely shot courtesy of Mukuro, and _now _his face really hurt. He backed away a few meek steps but Masami was already in front of him. Tsuna closed his eyes and ducked his head. If she was going to hit him again, he only hoped it wasn't as hard as her the punch she just gave him.

...Reborn blinked at the scene. The he smiled. The instant changes in her mood were somewhat endearing.

"EHH? MASAMI-SAN?" Tsuna had totally froze from the shock. She was... Masami was hugging him? Squeezing him so tightly that his body became even more sore. Was it just him or did she get even stronger than before?

"Stupid, _stupid_..." Masami repeated, voice cracking from emotion. "I was so worried, you idiots..."

Tsuna's eyes that were wide from shock closed slowly. He had... never had anyone worry about him in such a way. He put a hand to her back in a clumsy hug. She felt warm and smelled nice, like soap that had a good fragrance but no distinct scent. Tsuna noticed in passing that even though she was about an inch taller than him, she seemed smaller. _Yet she had come here looking for them..._

Tsuna sweatdropped. _But that punch just then wasn't 'small'..._

"Sorry, Masami-san... We didn't want you to get hurt," he murmured. His other arm felt dead so all Tsuna could manage was an awkward one-handed hug on his side. He felt Masami's body shake with a small laugh that wasn't necessarily happy.

"No-good Tsuna," Masami said, anger no longer filling her tone. Guilt hit Tunsa even harder. It was the first time she used his nickname, despite hearing it around so much from students and Reborn.

For her to use the name, he must have messed up badly.

"Then you thought it was okay for you guys to get hurt?" She squeezed him even harder and he unconsciously gagged. "That's really no good at all if you guys get hurt then... Relying on people... it's okay to do it."

"I..." Tsuna didn't know what to say. He turned slightly and saw that Masami's eyes were closed and brows furrowed as she hugged him.

"...I understand," Tsuna said. He blushed as she gave him her usual smile.

"That's good." She laughed. "Don't forget it then." And with that, Masami let go of Tsuna. He wheezed, gulping in air he hadn't had when Masami was squeezing him. Meanwhile, Masami was scanning the room, searching for another laughing _idiot _to reprimand. She spotted something behind Tsuna.

Her voice trembled. "Is that... Yamamoto-kun?" She pointed to the body behind her underclassman. Tsuna turned to briefly look down at who Masami thought to be Yamamoto before turning to face her again. He shook his head and looked away. "It's actually..." He didn't finish, instead he stepped aside so that Masami had a clear view of who the person really was.

She felt her heart stop. It couldn't be, but in plain view was Hibari. The strong leader of the Disciplinary Committee was lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

How could he? How could he be unconscious like this?

"_Hibari..._" she whispered. Masami didn't speak and felt her legs automatically running up to the boy. Tsuna moved away obediently and looked at his upperclassmen strangely, wondering about their relationship. Masami seemed genuinely worried about the head prefect. He could tell from her eyes. It was always those dark brown orbs that could tell what she was really feeling even if everything else lied. His thoughts on them just being subordinate and boss were changing now because of the amount of worry reflected in her eyes.

Masami reached a hand to hover over Hibari's face before settling on his forehead to brush out some bangs. She had tried to touch him months ago, when he was asleep and he had woken up before she could come close to it. Now, her brows furrowed, he wasn't stirring at all. How hurt was he?

Tsuna seemed to know what she was thinking for he told her. "Most of the bones in his body are broken. And he's lost a lot of blood too..."

"...I see."

"Woman," Gokudera looked away from the girl. She wasn't crying, which would have been a whole crapload of awkward, but the melancholy radiating off her was enough to make him feel... _nice._

"He'll be fine. This is _Hibari_ we're talking about. He's as tough as a cockroach."

She nodded and smiled a bit, still looking at Hibari's face. "...Yeah. Thanks Gokudera-kun."

"Kufufu." Masami's head turned sharply towards the direction of the voice. A boy. There was a foreigner boy straining to sit up a mere feet away from them. Why hadn't she sensed him when she came into the room?

"How touching. Two lovers reunited with one another. And as for his condition, I've broken _all _of the bones in his body. He'll most likely die because he tried to fight me even after getting such a beating from me."

Masami stared blankly. One second. Two seconds...

_HUH? What the **hell**?_

"He **_isn't_** my lover!" she spat out. Tsuna and Gokudera looked at Masami, gaping. Reborn's smile was hidden under his hat. Tsuna cringed. The amount of hate in her eyes now...

_Maybe they aren't in a relationship then..._ Tsuna thought weakly.

She huffed. Wasn't it normal for her to be worried about Hibari? She was his subordinate, after all. Well, _used _to be his subordinate She pursed her lips soon after. This guy must have been really strong then, for Hibari to be in this state, or maybe...

Masami smiled lightly. "You must have used a dirty trick to beat him," she said spitefully. She looked at the wounds on the stranger's body. "You look like you can barely stay awake too. I supposed that was done after you got a beating from _him_."

Mukuro smiled coldly. Tsuna and Gokudera shivered. The temperature in the room had dropped down several degrees.

"Oh?" Mukuro smirked. "The girl has some guts, I see. I can also see _it_, girl." He finished with a seductive purr at the end. Masami's eyes widened. Then the impact of his words hit her. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.

_No way. No fucking way. _

He could see it. The bastard could see it. Mukuro smiled playfully in return. She ignored the inquisitive stares of Reborn, Tsuna and Gokudera. Her fists clenched and she looked down at Hibari's unconscious face for a reason unknown to her. Her fingers had stopped moving through his blood-encrusted hair. She felt her body become cold because really, it was too soon, much too soon, for this to happen.

Masami's secret was out.

* * *

_"Hmm..." Akane grabbed a bunch of Masami's hair and pulled hard. The young girl grimaced but otherwise said nothing. She was already used to the teenage girl's tendencies._

_"I wonder what colours I would have to mix to get this exact shade of freakish colour," Akane wondered out loud, still tugging on the unique-coloured hair. The teen turned to her 'partner in crime', Rei. He was paying no attention to the two females with him and was instead looking out the window, searching for their targets. They were in the middle of another mission. A mission that would pay well if they succeeded.  
_

_"Ne, ne, Reeii~" Akane wheedled out. She forced Masami to sit down on the chair beside her and began braiding the little girl's hair. "Should we get hair dye or something? Maybe contacts too!"_

_"I'm allergic to hair dye," Masami muttered out, wincing at the merciless tugs from Akane's fast-working fingers. "And my eyes get itchy if I have contacts in for too long, Akane-san..." She really did feel self-conscious about her hair and eyes when Akane kept pointing it out so often. Maybe she should just shave off all her hair. Bald was a nice look.  
_

_Masami heard Akane sigh._

_"How boring~" The young woman turned to Rei. "What should we do then? Mana sticks out like a sore thumb." Something which was _not _good in their line of business for sure.  
_

_The boy finally turned to face his two companions._

_"I'm working on something..." he explained stoically. "It'll be done in a while."_

_Akane finished tying Masami's braid and hopped up to Rei, wrapping her arms around him. Masami stiffened imperceptibly from her position on the chair._

_"What is it?" she asked, arms still in an embrace around the boy._

_He tilted his head ever so slightly. _

_"...Jewelry."_

* * *

"Reborn, what is Rokudo Mukuro talking about?" Tsuna whispered loudly to the baby. A brief lapse in the action had let him recover from Mukuro's assault, mostly because he was preoccupied with conversing with the shell-shocked Masami, whom Tsuna thought was an ordinary girl, but apparently not, from what Mukuro was saying.

Reborn frowned. "I...don't know..." Tsuna waited for him to say more, but he kept silent, instead choosing to watch Mukuro's knowing gaze on Masami.

...

"It's the necklace," Mukuro stated. He was referring to Masami's necklace, which she had usually kept tucked safe inside her shirt. It had slipped out while she had been running. "The source of the illusion. That means the illusion on you is not yours but is an outsider's; a skilled illusionist from what I can tell. I haven't met many people whom can focus their illusionary powers in an object."

Masami was faintly aware of everything he was saying and also the fact that Tsuna and the others were listening. So this wasn't the time to be panicking.

"And so," she said evenly. "What was the point of saying all of that?" _Besides being a bigger ass than you already seem to be! _

Mukuro smiled slyly. "I'll uncover that illusion of yours just for fun while I take over Sawada Tsunayoshi's body." She twitched and unconsciously grabbed onto Hibari's sleeve and clenched her fist. His attention was back on everyone now. Masami looked down incredulously as she felt Hibari twitch in her lap. He was awake?

"And after that, there will be no one left alive."

_What-?_

Masami had no time to even let out a gasp as Rokudo Mukuro took out a gun and shot himself in the head.

"EHH?" Tsuna screeched.

Gokudera blinked, shocked. "Did he just..."

"Yeah." Reborn tipped his hat until his eyes weren't visible. "I guess he rather be dead than be taken in alive."

Masami shook her head silently, still staring at Mukuro's corpse. He wouldn't just shoot himself dead after claiming no one would be alive. _It has to be a trick._

A shout interrupted her thoughts and she saw Tsuna being surrounded by_..._Bianchi and Gokudera? Bianchi was spewing something out, like how she was Rokudo Mukuro and that all of us really wouldn't be left alive. She turned slowly towards him and his eyes widened._ Her left eye was..._

...it had the kanji of the number '6' lodged in her pupil. And then Masami could feel pent-up anxiety coursing through her as she slowly realized that that boy, Rokudo Mukuro, had had the same blood red eye with a character in it.

"Tsuna!" Reborn called out. "Hurry up and take care of it!"

"Take a WHAT?" Tsuna shrieked, tears coming out of his eyes. What was he supposed to do? His jaw dropped as Bianchi's trident pierced Gokudera. Gokudera fell back with a gasp but slowly stood up. Tsuna felt a tear slip down his face as he saw that now his friend's eye was red.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Tsuna cried out, barely dodging the incoming attacks of the pillars of fire.

"Tsunayoshi-kun!"

Tsuna turned to see Masami dragging Hibari off to the side near the stage. He paused. That's right. Neither of them had been possessed yet. He wasn't alone...

"I'll..." Masami grunted as she heaved Hibari once more. "I'll come there after I make sure Hibari's okay, all right?" she shouted. "Just wait a little longer!"

"EHH?" Tsuna dodged another pillar of fire. "No, don't come here, Masami-san!" he shrieked, but she wasn't paying attention anymore. She was hurriedly ripping the shirt she had on that looked too big for her into fat strips. What was she doing?

"EEK!" Reborn had kicked him in the head, waking him from his stupour and helping him dodge another pillar of fire.

"Reborn! What are you-"

Reborn frowned. "If you don't want any of your friends hurt, then fight!" his squeaky voice declared. Tsuna looked up at his tutor, astounded.

"Everyone's going to die at this rate if you don't do anything, Tsuna!"

Tsuna's eyes widened. The pillars had stopped and he saw the Gokudera was kneeling on the ground, panting and single eye still red, the animal boy and yo-yo boy were unconscious on the ground and Bianchi was the only one left standing. He turned to glance at Masami and saw that she was wrapping a particular nasty wound of Hibari's.

_"Relying on someone... it's okay to do it."_

But wasn't it horrible of him? To rely this much on people?

_At this rate, everyone..._

Tsuna's eyes hardened and Reborn could feel a smirk on his face as he saw the familiar glowing from Leon.

His partner was about to spit out a weapon.

* * *

Masami flinched as she felt Hibari twitch again on her lap. She bit her lip and tied a firm knot, securing the makeshift bandage. It would have to do for now. She reached beside her to grab another strip.

_One more bad one_, Masami thought, referring to Hibari's bleeding arm. _And then I'll try to set his bones back into place._ As soon as she touched his arm, Hibari's other hand grabbed at her wrist. Her eyes widened. Even with being hurt so badly, he could wake up? Masami winced as she felt him tighten his grip on her wrist. She could feel the bone creaking and threatening to snap. Her eyes softened. He was like a wounded animal.

Why was it so painful to see him like this?

"Hibari," she said softly. His grip stopped tightening. "It's me."

Hibari's eyes slowly opened, met her own brown ones and let go off her wrist. She rubbed her wrist, trying to hid her wince. Even now, he was still strong.

"Why..." Hibari glared at her as she picked up the cloth strip again. She looked down at his face expectantly. What did he want to ask?

_"...Why are you here?"_

It was Masami's turn to glare at his words. She pursed her lips as she began wrapping his arm with the strip. She didn't realize the intent way Hibari was looking at her eyes, which were slowly darkening into an almost black colour.

"I'm angry. At a lot of people right now. This includes you, Hibari," Masami stated. She was almost done with wrapping. She couldn't believe he was acting so... docile. It was a funny but accurate way to describe Hibari. How hurt was he to be letting her just touch him like this? She caught his inquisitive stare and scowled.

"I'm angry because you decided to come here alone," she started. "Even though I know you were most likely not going to be hurt -which you _are _now- I was still worried."

Hibari closed his eyes, sleep beginning to take over.

"You... really gave me a scare when I saw you..." Masami admitted before tying the knot to the bandage. Her eyes widened.

_He fell asleep..._ She sighed and puffed up her cheeks in exasperation. She had been in the middle of scolding him too.

_Still... I'm glad he's all right too._ She smiled a little and brushed his hair from his forehead with her hand. His other arm was bent in a weird angle. She grimaced. It must be painful. Masami hummed, brows furrowed. Should she set it back? Somehow, she felt calm right now. Maybe it was because it was much quieter than it had been before.

_Wait... _Masami paused. **Why **_is it quiet? _

She turned around slowly. Her jaw dropped. Tsuna was facing 'Gokudera'... His expression was serious. He actually looked... reliable now. On his hands, he wore fancy-looking gloves made for fighting. When had he gotten those? Her mouth became more wide as she saw a flame on his head. It was orange in colour. She watched as Reborn glanced over at her.

"It's all right, Masami," the baby reassured with a smirk. "Stop looking so pale and do whatever you can to help Hibari." Masami absentmindedly touched her face. It was clammy. According to Reborn, she had paled too. She looked at her hands and was surprised to find them trembling too.

_But..._ Masami wasn't scared because of Rokudo Mukuro. It was because...

_I've seen a flame like that before. Back then... on those heads of those kids. _She lay a hand on Hibari's cheek and felt it was burning? Or was it that her hand was cold? She felt numb and detached from the rest of the world. Having Hibari's heat helped quell the negative feelings.

**_But they're dead and I'm alive and-_**

"Masami!"

Masami jerked her head up to see Reborn looking at her. There was a frown on the baby's face.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Masami blinked slowly and a moment later, the question registered. She nodded.

"Yeah..." She ignored the worried look on the infant's face. "I'm fine. Just focus on helping Tsuna." The boy seemed to be doing well. Gokudera was currently struggling not to be pushed back by Tsuna, who looked determined to stop the silver-haired boy.

"All right then," Reborn said. Masami shut her eyes tightly and shook her head slightly. She had to focus on Hibari right now.

_I should set it back... _Masami eyed Hibari warily. Even though he was asleep, there was still the chance he'd do something.

_Like grab my neck and snap it, _she thought dryly. She pursed her lips with resignation before grabbing onto Hibari's arm with both her hands, one on either side of where the break was.

"Here goes," she whispered and closed her eyes at the same time she jerked his arm. She grimaced at the muffled crack and pulled back slightly, arms covering her face. After a minute, she realized she wasn't in any pain and slowly lowered her arms.

"I'm not dead," Masami said quietly to herself. Hibari hadn't woken up. "Wow..."

She examined the entirety of his body again. His head was still on her lap, one cheek against the rough cloth of her (or Yamamoto's) track pants. He was breathing with a watery sound as his chest moved up and down. Most likely there was blood in his lungs. She'd taken care of two of the worst bleeding flesh wounds but there were still various scratches on him that were leaking blood and she could tell from some bruises that he had more broken bones than the one in his arm.

Cold reality struck Masami and she screwed her eyes shut and put his hand to her cheek, as if willing him to stay alive by relying on her own life energy.

Hibari was going to_ die_ at this rate. She opened her eyes hesitantly, her mouth in a tight line as she dropped his hand. She couldn't do anything else for him...

"Masami! Look out!" Reborn called out to her. Masami turned her head towards the baby. Bianchi had gotten up again.

The woman suddenly shot towards her and Hibari, the weapon gleaming in her hand. The only reason Masami moved was because of the shout from Tsuna that pierced through the loud thudding in her ears.

Masami barely dodged "Bianchi's" trident attack while pulling Hibari, but that didn't seem to be Mukuro's intent as she realize as she stepped back. It went in slow motion as she watched, helpless, as the necklace with the dark purple gem in it around her neck was pierced by the silver trident. She landed with a thump on the ground with Hibari's body over her legs. But that wasn't what made her motionless as she watched Bianchi/Mukuro run towards her, trident poised in hand.

It was the telltale strands of her old dark pink hair obscuring her vision.

_Crap..._ Masami felt the trident pierce her shoulder and she fell back. Her conscious was forcefully being taken by another stronger conscious that was more experienced.

She heard a voice before everything went black.

_"...You really are an interesting girl, aren't you, Masami-chan?"_

* * *

"Is she going to be okay?" Tsuna asked worriedly to Reborn as he stared at Masami on the hospital bed. After Mukuro had pierced her pendant, the so-called illusion around her had disappeared. The person laying in front of him on the white bed did not look at all like his upperclassman. Her childish face had been replaced by the appearance of a young woman. The most shocking change was the fact that her straight brown hair had morphed into wavy dark pink locks. He blushed slightly. It wasn't that she was particularly beautiful; good-looking enough, but not drop-dead gorgeous. But her features were really... _delicate. _Features that would make people look twice at her if she was walking down the street.

"She will," Reborn confirmed. "Masami wasn't hurt as bad as Hibari and the others." He tilted his head contemplatively. Admittedly, he had no idea why she was still sleeping despite the fact that everyone else was now awake and training their butts off for the ring battle. She had even gone into a coma right after Tsuna had defeated Mukuro.

Questions would have to be asked after she woke up.

As if on cue from her name, Masami begun to stir. Tsuna jumped back from his position near her bed just in time for her eyes to open. The girl looked blearily at the two figures in front of her. She blinked a few times to rid the sleep from her eyes.

Masami rubbed her eyes. "Tsunayoshi-kun and Reborn-san?" She briefly glanced around the sterile room. "Hospital?"

Tsuna nodded. "The doctors said your injuries weren't that serious, except for that wound on your shoulder, Masami-san." He gestured to her clothed shoulder where Masami could feel the clean white bandages pressing against her aching wound.

"...If that_ is_ your real name," Reborn said. He jumped up on her lap and blinked up at Masami. She flinched. Everything was either aching or hurt.

Tsuna noticed the uncomfortable expression on his friend's face. "Reborn!"

The baby waved it off. "She can handle a little pain. After all, she _was_ injured when she saved you from falling and breaking all your bones." Masami cringed. _The kid sure was observant._

Tsuna's eyes widened. "R-really? S-sorry, Masami-san! I hadn't even noticed and yet you..." He looked away guiltily.

"It's really nothing. I wanted to help you, Tsunayoshi-kun." She grinned what she hoped to be a reassuring one.

The boy was relieved. "Really?"

Masami nodded cheerfully. _So cute..._ she thought absentmindedly.

Reborn nodded. "Now that we've established Tsuna really is no good, let's go back to you, Masami. Who are you?" Reborn questioned.

Tsuna gaped. _S-so blunt!_

Masami rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously. "Ahaha... can I _not_ answer that?"

"No."

Her shoulders deflated. _Jerk._ "F-fine." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Umm... my name really is Sakata Masami, that wasn't a lie. And I'm a..." she cocked her head thoughtfully. "...a retired mafioso."

_Mafia? **Mafia? More mafia? **I can't take it anymore! _A friend he thought was normal was actually just another weirdo! And with that, Tsuna collapsed back with a thud. Masami blinked and then her eyes widened. "Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"No-good Tsuna fainted just from that?" Reborn shook his head and sighed. He then smiled at Masami. Masami eyed Reborn with suspicion, and with good reason. What did he want...

"Well, now we can talk, just you and me."

Masami twitched._ I don't want to talk with you... _The baby was too nosy.

"But before we get started..." Reborn smiled. "I should tell you what happened."

"Was Mukuro defeated?" Masami asked. The baby gave one quick nod and she sighed in relief. "Who defeated him?"

"My no-good student," he answered, a proud air around him. "The Vendice took Mukuro and his lackeys away to be jailed at the Vendicare." Masami frowned. She'd heard of Vendice once. Feared masked guards that protected the laws of the mafia world. She frowned and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Mukuro. Reborn saw her expression.

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for the guy," Reborn said. "He nearly killed all of us." Masami grimaced at his blunt statement. She looked away guiltily.

"A little... I can understand why he's angry..." She recalled the strange powers he had. Something about his eyes, right? "He was experimented on, right? I can't help but get why he's angry, you know?" She looked at the baby imploringly. Reborn shrugged carelessly.

"It doesn't matter," he stated. "He attacked the Vongola. It's our job to defend against attackers that could possibly weaken the family."

Masami understood that. She really did. Maybe it was because she'd been in Mukuro's same circumstances that she felt more empathetic.

_Or maybe Reborn's just a mean apathetic brat and I'm the normal one here._ Yeah, that reason made more sense. Reborn tilted his head.

"You... Obviously you're one and the same as Rokudo Mukuro..." Masami's eyes widened and Reborn raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty obvious," he pointed out, purposely looking at her hair for a long moment before turning back to her eyes. They were a more, subdue pastel pink, with a thin bright red line cutting diagonal.

"But unlike him, you don't care for revenge." Reborn frowned at the girl. "Just **how **did you survive in the mafia world with a personality like that?"

Masami blinked, confused.

"...What... personality...?"

Reborn's face flashed with annoyance and he raised a tiny fist. He was going to hit her? She was already prepared when he brought down his arm but gaped when he didn't punch her. In a span of a moment, his fist had gone undone and he patted her on the head. She scowled. What was with people and patting her on the head?

"You're so thick, Masami." Reborn kept patting her head. Her hair felt nice. He knew he was right in complimenting it when they had first met. It was a rather unique but pretty colour now, even though she **did **stick out like a sore thumb.

"...But now I sort of know why now." He was **still **patting her head. Her bewildered expression slowly darkened, inwardly willing him to stop. "You didn't grow up normal, did you? So I guess you wouldn't know much about love and stuff." He finally released his hold on her head.

"Love..." Masami repeated flatly. "...and stuff." She knew who wouldn't be getting an award for most eloquent now. She yelped as he suddenly grabbed hold of a bunch of hair and pulled.

"What was that?" Reborn asked darkly, head tilted in a purposeful adorable manner that only made him look even **more **scary. She laughed nervously.

"N-nothing." There needed to be a topic change. And quick. She raised an eyebrow at Tsuna who was lying on the ground. Had he _really_ defeated Mukuro?

"...Seriously?" Masami said out loud, still staring at Tsuna.

Reborn ignored her question. He also knew that it was pretty amazing that his student had done the deed. It would take a while before Masami wrapped her head around the idea too. Reborn smirked.

"Anyway, you did well, whoever you are. Everyone's okay, including Hibari. He was in critical condition when the Vongola medical team had arrived. They told me that if you hadn't stopped the major bleeding, he could have seriously died."

"Oh... Thanks..." The compliment was somehow ruined by the 'whoever you are'. Masami smiled. Everyone was okay...

"Who taught you first-aid like that?' the infant demanded, still sitting comfortably on her lap. She looked away. Reborn narrowed his eyes and stomped on the lap he was sitting on.

"Ow!"

"**Who **was it?" Reborn asked again, a hint of malice in his tone. Masami sighed and then turned back to look at him dispassionately.

"...Akane-san..." Masami grumbled reluctantly.

"You're kidding," Reborn replied immediately. She stared at him flatly with a, 'I knew you wouldn't have believed me, so what was the point in telling you anyway?' look.

Reborn blinked. Maybe the girl _was_ telling the truth.

"She's good at patching people up," she explained. She caught the expression on the baby's face. "Yes, I know she doesn't seem like the type to care for people."

"...Huh..." was the infant's answer.

Reborn sighed. "Well, onto business, I suppose."

Masami stared at him warily.

"Your family?"

Reborn watched her reaction carefully. The young woman's hand tightened around the sheets under her hand. The grim expression on her face wasn't lost on him either. _Very strange... and suspicious. _Asking one's family between two mafioso was customary, to determine whether or not the other was from a rival family. Yet... _Now she's **thinking.** How annoying, _Reborn thought wearily. He was too tired to deal with this.

"Well?" he asked evenly.

Masami's lips parted as she looked at Reborn with owlish eyes. "Ah, um, sorry..." she grinned sheepishly at Reborn. "I'm not part of any family. I was more like a freelancer, if you had to name it something."

Reborn raised an eyebrow. He himself had been a jack of all trades sort before he had been recruited into the Vongolas. That's why he also knew that with a freelancer job came many secrets from each family they served that must be kept a secret, _or else_. He tilted his head.

Masami's eyes widened as she stared at the barrel. "Reborn-san..." The baby had pointed a gun to her temple. The easygoing atmosphere had turned tense from before had vanished, leaving the air stifling and tense. She looked into the baby's eyes carefully. _He's serious._ Even though he had always threatened to kill her, it was always "playful" (as playful as Reborn could get), but this time, she could feel his unwavering intent to kill her.

"Do you have any secrets of rival families that the Vongola could use?" Reborn asked. That was a rhetorical question. "It's obvious you do though. The question of whether I shoot you dead right here and now depends on what you give to me."

Masami's eyes hardened. _What a little bastard! _She had always been wary of Reborn, but would never have thought the baby would resort to something like this. Families really were scary if they were able to corrupt a little baby into trying to wheedle secrets out of her. "Then shoot me," she said quietly. Her gaze at Reborn's eyes showed no fear. The gun did not waver. "Because I'd rather be dead than betray someone's trust like that."

To her surprise, instead of shooting her, Reborn dropped the barrel from her head. He smiled. "You passed."

_What? What test? _She stared, incredulous, at Reborn's so-called test.

"I was suspicious of you, Masami. That was a test of your character."

"...My character..." She glared instantly. Hey, wait a minute! "Did you HAVE to do it like that, Reborn-san? That was too much! I thought you were really going to kill me!"

The baby shrugged. "When I do things, I don't go half-assed," he pointed out plainly.

Masami thought back to all the instances when he was "tutoring" Tsuna. _Ah, well, that's true._

Now that she was on the subject of Tsuna...

Masami looked down at Tsuna, who was still unconscious and dead to the world. She squinted. "Reborn-san, obviously you're part of the mafia, but is Tsunayoshi-kun _really _part of the mafia...? He is sort of..." What was the right word to describe Tsuna? "...not mafia material," she finished lamely.

"He's the one who will be inheriting the title of tenth boss of the Vongola, so yes, he is."

She had heard of the Vongola from Rei and Akane. The most power mafia family that ruled the underground world, was it?

She nodded mindlessly, smiling. "Oh, I see. That makes sense-say WHAT?"

Reborn ignored her question and how she was looking at him with surprise.

"Tell me more about your free-lancing job." He was very curious. Masami was young, only being about 15. He wanted to know what kind of experience she had dealing with the mafia. Honestly, how old could she have been to have been dragged into the darker side of the mafia? Despite the positive deposition Masami had about her most of the time, Reborn could clearly see it in those strange eyes of her. _Had _seen it when they had first met.

Eyes of a kid who grew up much too fast.

Masami blinked and looked thoughtful.

"It was really more so Rei and Akane-san did everything while I tagged along for the jobs. Akane still takes jobs..." Masami put her bare feet onto the linoleum floor and shivered. It was cold.

Reborn lifted up his hat. "What'd you do during the missions then?"

Masami tentatively stood up, legs wobbling slightly. She frowned while staring at the ground.

"Distract guards was the most dangerous job I was given on one occasion." Masami smiled slightly then. "They always tried to make sure I wasn't in the line of fire when it came to the more dangerous aspects... Even Akane-san worried." She caught Reborn's skeptical gaze, causing her to stare back at him flatly.

"If you look under the underneath, Kouno Akane is nice," Masami declared.

"Yeah... but you think_ Hibari_ is a good person, Masami..." From what Reborn could tell, Masami hadn't exactly led the most easiest life in the world. He imagined lots of traveling and the constant threat of danger looming over her. Being a previous free-lancer, the baby _did _know a bit about what it was like. It wasn't like he had forgotten the life he had before he became a baby.

Reborn was surprised Masami hadn't turned out like he knew her as now.

That pure heart of Masami's was good (if not a little peculiar) to see.

"What?" Masami asked, suspicious. What was the baby going on about now?

"Never mind..."

Masami scowled defensively. "He's not a good person. He's hateful and cocky and violent and-"

Reborn smirked. "Come on, Masami. There has to be _some _reason you can tolerate that 'hateful' guy." He watched as her lips parted slowly before they were set in a tight, stubborn line.

"He's..." she paused. "...Fine." She would relent just this once. "He's a good person only when he _wants _to be." She couldn't help but remember when he had let that group of students go or when he came for her when she was kidnapped or when he beat up those perverts or when he gave her...-

Masami touched her forehead. Surprisingly, the clip was still there. It was a sturdy as she had initially thought.

"Hmm..." Reborn smiled. He had some clue as to what Masami was thinking about. "When you're involved, right? Interesting."

Masami stared at him drolly.

"Whenever you say 'interesting', it makes me feel annoyed because you're being really secretive, Reborn-san."

The baby shook his head. The next thing Masami knew, she had a red mark on her cheek.

"OW!" He had kicked her!

"Akane is right," Reborn remarked. "You really do piss people off with the whole denseness thing going on, Masami."

Masami glared at the baby, because he was being totally confusing again.

The kick hadn't lessened the desire to glare either.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Akane is in the hospital. She came when she heard you got beaten up."

Damn it. She didn't want to deal with Akane just after she had finally woken up. She ground her teeth. "I wasn't beaten up." _I was just pierced by an oversized fork._

Reborn tilted his head. "Personally, I think it's worse to be jabbed by a trident than getting beaten up. You should thank me for sugarcoating it, Masami."

It didn't make any difference since Akane was here anyway.

"Gee..." Masami's glare intensified. "Thanks."

"No problem."

They heard a loud familiar voice from down the hall.

"MAAAAAH-NAAAAAAAA!"

Masami rubbed her eyes tiredly.

* * *

Reborn waved to the pair of females who were now exiting the hospital. His pupil was beside him and still unconscious. Useless idiot.

He smirked in amusement as he watched the shorter one trying to frantically cover up her backside and looked absolutely out-of-place wearing a hospital gown. Akane had refused Masami normal clothes on the grounds that it would be 'funny to see how she reacts!'.The girl was currently backed up against the hospital's gates and sliding against it awkwardly while following Akane.

"Ah...Oops." The baby blinked. He had forgotten to ask a lot more.

Reborn turned to his student and gave him a kick. Tsuna squealed but didn't wake up.

He sighed. "You're really a no good idiot, Tsuna."

* * *

"I'm a bit afraid because of the people that will be sent now that Rei's necklace has broken," Akane confessed to her smaller counterpart. Her tone was light and relaxed, belying her confession. She was walking with her traditional light steps, steps of someone used to sneaking around in dangerous places often.

"Because of your huge mess up, that annoying family will be able to find us more easily," she finished cheerily, meanwhile staring at Masami with reproach obvious in her eyes. "It's entirely your fault that I have to stay in this boring place for a while to keep an eye on you."

Masami nodded absentmindedly. "Sorry."

With each step, Masami could feel it: the cold stone thumped against her chest like a stick banging on a _hollow _can.

* * *

Masami glanced at the closed door of her room and winced when she heard some clattering. From what she was hearing, Akane was most likely exploring the fridge.

She focused back to her nearly-bare drawers. What should she wear...? Most of her wardrobe consisted of sweaters, jeans and t-shirts. She stared at the clothes of the open drawer and then shrugged. Closing her eyes, Masami decided to take a lucky dip into the pile. It wasn't like she was expecting something out of her usual ordinary. She already had a plain black t-shirt and zip-up blue sweater on. All she needed was a sturdy pair of jeans and she was set to... well, continue on with the rest of her day.

Her eyes widened at the article of clothing she pulled out.

* * *

Why did Masami have no good food?

Akane frowned at the supplies in the fridge. Milk, a small bottle of juice, and some fruit in the drawers. Nothing good. She looked in the cupboards and wasn't too surprised to find crackers and cup noodles in them. It was pretty bare, overall.

Maybe she should give the girl more money? This was sort of pitiful...

Akane brushed some imaginary dirt off the designer coat she was wearing and stuffed the hand into her pocket, fingers meeting cold hard cash, the results of a successful assassination.

Ehh, never mind. The girl seemed to be doing fine just like this.

Akane sat carefully on the table and waited for Masami to come out of her room. She snickered as she thought back to how the pink-haired girl had been acting when she was discharged from the hospital, like an innocent little doe separated from her mother.

_Personally, I would have just walked like normal..._ Sure anyone would be able to see her underwear through the back slit thingy but it didn't seem to be that big of a deal. It wasn't as if she knew any people on the streets of Namimori. Akane lounged on the furniture, one leg swinging back and forth through the air, as she thought of the contemptuous family that would no doubt be able to find them much more easily now. She frowned, cursing Masami for her complete _idiocy _and carelessness.

How could she just break the necklace like that? The necklace: something absolutely _amazing _and, Akane had to admit, impressive. Not only could it disguise the user's appearance but could also affect various abilities to some extent. She thought back to what Rei told her. It had been so long ago. She could barely remember. And that fact she didn't really care about the necklace's abilities didn't help matters.

"Oh yeah..." Akane trailed off, recalling something. In Masami's case, it could limit that enhanced strength of hers. But even with the necklace off, she wasn't as strong as Hibari but _maybe _a full-grown adult (Akane put Hibari-kun on a higher strength level as a full-grown man!), but could put a good struggle up if needed. Akane squinted thoughtfully. Rei had mentioned something about tricking the brain or something to that effect because a human's brain limited a person strength. Technically, _all_ people had more potential in their muscles to be stronger, it was just that the brains limited the amount of muscle power everyone used.

The necklace was an ingenious invention to be able to suppress what those experiments had done to Masami's 'brain limiter'.

Akane sprawled out on the rickety table and sighed adoringly. Just what she expected from the guy whom she had loved. She really did have good taste. She closed her eyes, casually listening to a faint 'tick-tick-tick'. She hadn't remembered seeing an analog clock...

...Hold it.

Akane's eyes snapped open and she sprung up to look at the origin of the strange sound.

She felt her heart begin to beat a mile a minute as she caught sight of the mechanism on the counter in across from the table. It blended in with the dark colour of the counter and was uniquely tiny for something of its complicated structure. Experience taught her that just because something was tiny, didn't mean it couldn't pack a punch.

It was obviously a-

"Aw, fuck!"

* * *

**End of Kokuyo Arc**

* * *

**A/N:** Mary-sue alert! Pink hair? D: For the writer's own twisted pleasure? Haha, but seriously, I didn't give her pink hair for the shits and giggles. X) You can theorize and I'll be more than happy to say yes or no.

Anyway, does anyone have questions they'd like answered in a **"Haru Haru Dangerous Interview"** about Masami and anything concerning her? It can't be questions like, "What's going to happen to her next?" or "Why are you so cruel to Yamamoto?" But yeah, feel free to ask. I'm making one (since I'm a dork) and thought if you guys want anything innocent questions (i.e. favourite food, colour, etc...) answered then I'll try to stick them in. Or maybe something about Rei or Akane? Ask them in a review perhaps. This is the only interview I'll be doing (since I'm a dork) so here's your only chance for some 'fun fact' answering.

Thanks for reading and please tell me what you thought of the chapter! Review and I may add **a whole whack of MasamiXHibari fluff** next chapter~ I enabled anon. reviews again. Have no idea how long they were turned off.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Homecoming**

_"Where oh where will we put you?"_

_**It would be too horrible of him to remind her of something like that.**_

_"In two days, you'll be expected to go to the rooftop."_

_****__"...You are mine."_


	15. Homecoming

A/N: Thank you to **DarkRoadHina**, **MikaUchiha666**, **SnowieG27**, **hiyomi**, **stuffedninja101**, **DatAznKid**, **10 Squad 3rd Seat**, **Kichou**, **ausumist**, **Senna-X**, **leogirl321**, **HibariTsunayoshi-kun**, **Grimmauldee**, **anonymous**, **Dokuki** and **The Chibi Alice **for reviewing! They always brighten up my day when I get them, so thanks. :)

Thanks to **Hitsugaya's GreenEyes **for beta-reading!

* * *

**Possession:  
Chapter 15: Homecoming**

A skirt. She had pulled out a pretty white skirt. Masami's fingers slid against the soft silken fabric. Was it made of genuine silk? She remembered this... It was a skirt Akane had bought her a few years ago. Back then, it'd been too big for her.

Masami eyed the piece of clothing critically. Would it fit her now? How would she look wearing this accompanied with her t-shirt and sweater?

She shook her head, dispelling any meaningless thoughts. Of course she would look horrible in it! There was no doubt in her mind that it didn't suit her at all. She wasn't exactly a tomboy but had grown used to sweats and large shirts bought from her minuscule allowance. In Masami's mind, they were the things that looked best on her...

...which is why she had no idea why she was beginning to pull the skirt up her legs.

Masami's hands moved quickly, fueled by her secret inner desire to try on a pretty skirt.

Before she knew it, she was looking at herself in the mirror with the skirt on. She twirled around experimentally, a sense of deja-vu from when Hibari had given her a girls' uniform.

"It makes me look fat," she stated flatly. The poofiness made her hips look wider than they really were and she couldn't help but stare at the mirage the skirt was doing to them. It was the first time she had looked at her body like this in a long time. Masami tilted her head and moved and lifted the t-shirt to pinch her stomach. She grimaced at the amount of flab between her fingers.

_My tummy... _Masami frowned. _It used to be flat..._ Her brows furrowed contemplatively. She would definitely need to exercise or go on a diet soon or risk... getting fat. She wasn't one to dwell on shallow things but couldn't help worry. It was her body, after all. She had to take good care of it, right? What would Akane say if she saw her stomach? Masami chuckled. Probably something along the line involving how she would never get a boyfriend if she became fat.

An image of a certain raven-haired boy flashed in her mind only to disappear quickly.

...

"What the...!" Masami's mouth parted. "What was that!" Why had her brain just decided to suddenly conjure up an image of Hibari? She shook her head. _Just ignore it, Masami. Just **ignore **it._

To distract her flustered self, Masami put a slender finger to the scar on her stomach. She was just going to focus on _anything _but what she had just seen. Masami squinted. It had been previously hidden by the necklace's powers. It was painful-looking and shiny against her pale skin. The healed wound began at the start of her rib cage on the left to end at her right, where her hip bone was. Masami swiftly tugged her shirt back down. Seeing it brought back memories. Memories she didn't want to recall if unneeded. At least Hibari was somewhat out of her head now.

Sighing, Masami moved to take off the skirt and replace it with some pants. She really didn't look good in th-

"BOOMB!" she heard Akane's voice shout from behind her followed quickly by the slam of her door. Bewildered, Masami, with one hand on the skirt's zipper, turned around to see a frantic-looking Akane running towards her. She winced in anticipation to be hit but it quickly turned into surprise when the older woman rushed past her to the window.

"What are you doing...?" Masami questioned hesitantly to Akane who was growling in frustration.

"Why the fuck is this so hard to open?" Akane shouted out, hands clawing at the handles to open the window.

Masami blinked. "...They're sort of old..."

"Tch." Akane swiveled around, eyes searching for something. The green orbs lighted up on Masami's desk lamp.

Masami saw the look on Akane's face and didn't like it one bit.

"NO! You are not using that to do whatever you're about to do!" She already** knew** what the woman was planning to do. The woman ignored her charge's words and made to grab the lamp. Masami could only watch in horror as Akane threw the lamp against the window. The glass shattered with a loud deafening sound.

_My...My window!_

Before the pink-haired girl could open her mouth to scream profanity, she was grabbed by the wrist and thrown out of the window.

_What. The. Hell! _Masami's face contorted to sheer panic as she flew through the air for a brief moment. That was followed closely by gravity doing its job by forcing her down back to earth. Masami bit her lip.

Her body knew what to do already.

Masami put her arms in front of her so that they were parallel to the asphalt. She grimaced in pain for a moment after the expanse of her arms hit the ground before somersaulting to absorb the rest of the shock. She stood up shakily. She wasn't used to it. It had been years since she had been treated to such action. It was sheer instincts, not memory, that she remembered how to recover from such a fall. It wasn't a good recovery though and Masami was sure that she could have been seriously injured if the fall had been from any higher.

She felt a scowl make its way to her features and turned sharply to demand why Akane did that.

Masami was met by the heel of the woman's hand against her forehead. She flailed before falling on her back against the cold hard ground.

...Okay.

That was** it.**

This was going too far to be a harmless prank anymore. Masami had an extremely high tolerance for annoying things; a resistance she had strengthened from her years with Akane. She could stand for breaking her window and her lamp and throwing her out the window, but the hand on face thing had snapped the last of Masami's already delicate nerves. She yanked the hand off her face.

"YOU...!" Masami began, sitting up slightly. She wasn't really sure what she was going to do but already deciding it would be very satisfying and possibly painful.

The loud explosive noise coming from her apartment left the words sticking in her throat. She turned to face the apartment. Masami watched, mouth gaping and eyes wide, as the fire from the explosion spread quickly. From the window, she could see the entirety of the inside was all being burn with bright flames.

Akane looked calmly towards the shocked girl's face.

"As I said," she stated flatly. "Bomb."

Akane sighed when she saw the bewildered Masami hadn't heard a word she had said. She promptly pulled out a cell phone and tilted her head.

Now what was that brat's phone number again...

* * *

"So, what exactly happened here?" Reborn asked as he took in the sight. Tenants of the apartment were scattered outside a safe distance away from the building. But they weren't the only ones amongst the crowd. There were curious onlookers mingling into the group who were standing at the yellow tape the police had temporarily put up, eyes greedily taking in the scene. There wasn't much damage to see. From what he could see from Masami's balcony window, the inside of her apartment had been completely destroyed and burnt. He learned a few minutes earlier (from eavesdropping the conversation between the landlord and a fireman) that the fire burnt some parts of Masami's neighbours, but other than that, hardly any other damage from '_what they could see'._

Akane ran a hand through her short dark hair, meanwhile eying Masami who was conversing with the sympathetic landlord.

"A bomb," she sighed out.

Reborn cocked a brow. A _bomb_? Was she kidding?

"...You're not serious, are you?"

"There wasn't any time to do anything," Akane continued with boredom in her tone. "I wondered why a bomb would conveniently go off while we were inside the apartment... That's when I saw it while I was going through the doorway to Mana's room: a trip wire. Really thin, transparent and I couldn't feel it pushing against my ankle when I accidentally passed it. It's only because I got great hearing that I heard the 'ticks'. It was a family's doing, for sure."

Reborn could feel the gears in his brain turning and was brought to a possible conclusion.

"A family who specializes in technology?"

"Yeeep!" Akane smiled and waved happily to Masami walking back to them and who might as well have had a dark cloud hanging over her from the face she was making.

"...Mana's old 'family'."

Reborn gave Akane a curious glance as Masami stepped in front of them both.

"I'll tell you later." The woman's smile widened as she turned to address a beaten down looking Masami. "For now, I'm guessing you need someplace to crash, Mana?

Masami nodded her head gloomily. No words were needed to describe to the other older(?) people how she was feeling.

"Hmm..." Akane tapped a finger to her chin. "Where oh where will we put you? It's too much work for me to stand going apartment-hunting again." She turned to Reborn. "Maybe she could..."

"No," Reborn cut in. "There's a lot of people in Tsuna's house. It's already crowded." Akane frowned.

A thought occurred to the little baby.

He smirked. "...But there may be a place..."

* * *

Masami forced herself to drag her feet and follow Akane and Reborn. Her entire body felt as heavy as lead. She just wanted to go to her home and dive into her bed. Her shoulders deflated at the thought. Right. No home and no bed. All she literally now had were the clothes on her back. The landlord said to return to the apartment building in two days after everything was deemed safe. But, she would be lucky to find anything salvageable in that wreck. She prayed that her photo album had survived but found that unlikely.

_Oh god... I'm homeless._

Homeless.

That word didn't do her stomach well.

"-naa~ You stupid-! MANA!"

_Huh? _

Masami felt the simultaneous two blows of a small shoe against her cheek and a hand slapping the back of her head. She winced.

"OW!" She craned her head up to glare at the two responsible only to have her eyes widen.

"Took you long enough," Reborn remarked as Masami stared in amazement at what was in front of her.

"Sorry..." she murmured absentmindedly. _S_he looked at the large wooden double doors in front of her and turned her head right and then left. Walls made of the same wood extended far.

This was... a barrier that most likely had a large Japanese-style home within its walls. Why were they here?

Ugh... her stomach hurt even more now. What was this bad feeling she was getting?

Akane bounced up to the door to give the out-of-place looking doorbell a push.

Why did the cheerful ring sound ominous to Masami's ears?

Masami flinched as the door opened with a sharp squeak from the old, rusty hinges.

A familiar steel grey eye was glaring right at her. She thought they flickered with surprise and another emotion but when she blinked, it was gone.

Masami's eyes widened.

"H-Hibari?" **Now **she recognized this place. She had gone here before, albeit entering the threshold unconscious but she **did **remember leaving but hadn't really been paying attention to the appearance of his wall, being too flustered to care about what his walls looked like. She turned incredulously to Akane and Reborn.

"...Why are we here...?" Masami already knew the answer to her question. It was obvious what they were thinking by the huge grins on their faces. She scowled. She** knew** she shouldn't have followed them. What had she been thinking when she just decided to trail after Akane and Reborn like a docile dog? Masami frowned, knowing the answer to this question too. It was because she was basically homeless and was guaranteed to stay like that for months while the apartment was being repaired.

Akane snickered before putting her hands on Masami's shoulders.

"We'll talk inside!" she chirped.

"Inside...?" Masami and Hibari voiced out, albeit his tone was a lot less bewildered and more on the lines of sinister and barely-concealed rage-worthy.

"Yep!" Reborn said. The hands on Masami's shoulders promptly shoved her against the door forcefully. She body-slammed into it and fell inside.

Masami winced. Her elbows... Her face... Was her nose bleeding...? The girl felt two bodies step over her. Well, Akane. Reborn just hopped on Masami's back and stood there. Reborn clucked his tongue.

"You're probably wondering why we're here, Hibari. Just two hours ago, Masami's apartment was ruined by a fire. She can't live there anymore, so we were wondering..."

"Get out," he ordered coldly. Masami noticed with some dread that his knuckles were white from gripping onto the door handles too tightly. Why were they here anyway? Reborn and Akane couldn't possibly be thinking that Hibari would just let her stay here. He hated being around people and her being in a house with him wouldn't be a good place to live for her and him.

Akane, of course, ignored Hibari and skipped over to a bush growing against the wall.

"Wow! These are so pretty!" She promptly plucked a flower -without Hibari's permission- from the bush, sniffed it, and then sneezed into it. "Really, really smelly! But it's a good smell, Hibari-kun, so don't worry."

...

Hibari's eye resisted the urge to twitch. It wasn't in his best interest to twitch, nor would it make the herbivores leave any faster. He gave a cursory glance to the pink-haired girl under the baby's foot. She looked different, that much was plainly obvious. The thing that caught the prefect's eye was her hair. It was _pink_. A dark pink, which could have passed for a light red if it was on a very, very dark night, but still... _pink_.

"Sakata Masami," he intoned. He watched her twitch under Reborn's foot before lifting her head up to meet his gaze.

His breath caught in his throat. A little. Not enough for anyone to catch the hitch in his breathing.

Her eyes, a pink but of a lighter shade than her hair. A pastel. With a thin diagonal red line cutting across the light pink. Then he caught himself and frowned. This wouldn't do.

"Wash the dye out of your hair and take those contacts out of your eyes." He paused to glare at her surprised face. "They're against school rules."

"EEHH?" a voice exclaimed. It was _that _woman again. Hibari eyed her from his peripheral vision. The flower was no longer in her hand and she was rubbing her nose with the back of her sleeve. The woman cocked a hip and put a hand on it.

"I didn't know you were such a dense _idiot, _Hibari-kun. That isn't dye and those aren't contacts," she drawled out, tone sounding amused.

"..." Hibari grit his teeth, hands moving to where he kept his weapons. He wouldn't allow someone to insult him like that without paying for it dearly.

The first swing was dodged by the snickering woman. Hibari frowned and followed the first one with a second swing, fully focusing his attention on hurting her.

...

Reborn watched Akane easily dodge Hibari's swings with a raised eyebrow. He sighed. He would have to handle everything again, wouldn't he? He looked down to see Masami sporting a concerned expression on her features. If she kept quiet for just five seconds, then his plan would work out.

"Well..." the baby said loudly. "We best go. Hibari doesn't seem to want you to stay here, Masami." He ignored her muffled, _"I don't want to anyway..."_. "We'll just go to Yamamoto's then. He'll more than likely be happy to have you." Would Hibari take the bait? Reborn wasn't sure. He also wasn't sure what Hibari felt for Masami. There was an unpredictability and enigmatic quality about the teenage male that made Reborn doubt if Hibari actually cared for Masami or just found her intriguing.

What would Hibari do now?

Reborn could feel a smirk threatening to appear on his face as Hibari stopped his onslaught of attacks on Akane. He met the baby's gaze, eyes glittering with cold fury.

"What?" Hibari hissed.

"Let's go inside, shall we, Hibari?" Reborn suggested.

Hook, line and sinker.

* * *

"You can't be serious," Masami said to Hibari as soon as they were alone. She couldn't believe it. Hibari had actually agreed to letting her stay in his huge house. All of them had managed to get past his front door before leading her to her new room. Not that Masami had wanted to particularly stay but then Akane had threatened her, saying she, as the guardian, would do her utmost to pull her out of school and make sure she stayed on the streets.

Not exactly a great guardian...

So now, she was here. In Hibari's house. Staying in it.

_I'm staying at Hibari's house..._ she thought incredulously. Masami scowled as she thought back to five minutes ago. He'd completely ignored her when Reborn was talking. Didn't it make sense to talk to _her _since _she _was staying at the house. He really was... _so rude! _Stupid jerk. He always did this. Ignoring her.

_Men! _Masami thought bitterly as she trailed after Hibari, who was presently leading her to her room.

_No. Not men... Just Hibari_, she amended inwardly. For some reason, he always made her so mad. She wasn't familiar with this emotion. She didn't get mad that often but when she did, it could range from cool, seething rage to firey-hot anger.

This wasn't Masami's first time at Hibari's house (her second, to be exact), but she hadn't stayed the night when she came here the first time. Even though he had _ordered _her to stay at that time, she had managed to persuade him to let her go after speaking/fighting with him for two hours. Masami remembered. She'd been hysterical back then, insisting that she couldn't stay. Because this was _Hibari Kyoya_ and she was a girl.

_But..._ Hibari didn't think of her as a girl. That had already been established when Gokudera had accidentally blurted it out. Masami bit her lip. He just thought of her as... a little animal... In fact, she was betting the reason he was letting her stay here was because he thought of her as little animal. She chuckled inwardly, remembering when she had unsuccessfully tried to attack him. Her small laugh suddenly stopped as something hit her.

_I knew that already, but... _Her eyes darkened. She wondered why... she didn't want him to think of her as a little animal anymore.

Masami's thoughts were interrupted as she smacked against something and fell back on her butt.

Hibari turned to glance at her before opening the door of the room beside him.

Masami blinked. He wasn't talking so did that mean...?

"We're here?"

* * *

"So... you promised you would tell me everything," Reborn remarked. They were in the kitchen of the large home drinking tea. Hibari and Masami were upstairs and the baby found this the best opportunity to squeeze whatever information he could get from Akane. He watched as she set down her cup of tea on the table he was sitting at before settling herself down. Akane sighed, like it was something menial she had to get over with but didn't really want to. She propped a cheek on her hand.

"What do you want to know?"

"Who are the people chasing after Masami for one," Reborn said. He wasn't thinking of chasing the pair away from Namimori to avoid anything befalling Tsuna and the others. In fact, he thought it would be great training in the instance that they encountered one of Masami's attackers. But, he still wanted to know what they were dealing with. Akane looked out the large window in the kitchen, eyes looking thoughtful. She didn't turn back to Reborn when she answered.

"The Shiri family." Akane turned slightly and caught Reborn's surprised expression. She smiled wryly, knowing exactly why he was surprised. "You thought the family had disbanded and all went their separate ways after the Vongola family confronted them, didn't you?"

"That family..." Reborn murmured. He reached for the information about the family that was in his head. It'd been more than five years since anyone had uttered a word about _that _family. The Shiri family had resided in northern Japan, in Hokkaido. The reason for such a secluded, snowy and cold location was to make sure they were more free to deal in their affairs without anyone, mafia or normal citizens, knowing what they were up to.

"Human experimentation," Reborn said quietly. The family had gotten far in their research when the Vongola found out. The Vongola had found out of the Shiri family's existence when some of the family members had gone missing while partaking on missions in the Hokkaido region.

Reborn... he could still remember the horror that had afflicted his psyche when the Vongola team he was part of had entered the family's research and experimentation facility.

It had been abandoned in a hurry. He recalled the primary smell of ashes from fires that had burned the most important evidence and research when they had been outside the facility, probably executed when the small family had become aware that the Vongola knew what they were doing.

When they had first entered the large cold-looking structure, the smell, all Reborn had thought of back then had been the smell of _something _rotting and another fainter smell of chemicals. Even now, he could still feel the horrible odour clinging to the insides of his nose. They had gone deeper until they had finally reached a door that had a suspicious feeling about it. The room had been dark and it took at least an hour for the technician on their team to get the lights back on.

The sight of what they had seen would forever be burned inside his mind. One person, a woman and the least experienced, on the five-person team had gone hysterical from shock and had to be immediately escorted out. It was horribly amazing.

Another person had thrown up after a minute.

Life-size test tubes filled with water mixed with bitter-smelling chemicals lined the walls of the large room had been what Reborn had seen first. But that hadn't been what had made the baby -back then, an adult- gape.

Naked bodies of children filled the containers. They all looked sickly and thin in the yellowed fluid and the wires attached to them only contributed to the image. None of them were wearing breathing masks and Reborn had noticed said equipment on the ground of the containers. Reborn had concluded that the family had purposely drowned the children, having not enough time to properly "take care" of them before his team had arrived. What was even worse were the bodies of adults in white lab coats scattered on the floors, bullets in their heads; disposable researchers that had been killed to protect secrets.

And after months of everything being processed and taken care of, they couldn't find any trace of any family members' whereabouts and had been forced to conclude that the family had simply broken up.

This was the first time Reborn could think of nothing proper to say. What could he say? What could be said to address the fact that a family that they had thought to be gone had never really disappeared at all. That a subject of the experiments, Masami, was alive.

"But... if... all those kids were killed," Reborn looked to Akane. "How could Masami still be alive?" He doubted the Shiri would just leave a subject alive like that to be set free.

"About a year before _that_, Rei and I had found Mana in one of their smaller facilities. We got her out and escaped, but barely. We only managed to get Mana out." Reborn frowned. Smaller facilities?

"There are more?" Reborn asked. Akane shot the baby a dry look.

"Of course there are, dummy. Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'Don't keep all of your eggs in one basket' before?"

"Why didn't you tell us then?" he demanded, hands itching to grab at his gun from frustration. Who knows what that family had been up to for the past several years. "We could have-"

"Who would have believed us?" Akane snapped. "I was only 16 at the time and wasn't part of a family. Free-lancer, duhh." She made an X with both her index fingers. "Being young and having no affiliation with a family doesn't make any claims me and Rei would have made seem believable, right?"

Reborn kept silent. He didn't know what to say to her true statement. He didn't even know if what Akane was saying was true now. But there was living proof in the form of Masami. It was obvious that she'd been experimented on. For her hair and eye colour to change like that...

"She must have been one of the children experimented on the most," Reborn suddenly concluded. Akane looked slightly amused now.

"Yeep! The children at the facility had no set name, so they were given sort of something like code names, I guess? Hers was Mana."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at Akane's statement. Wasn't it cruel of Akane then, to keep calling Masami Mana? It undoubtedly only reminded the poor girl of her past.

Akane smiled sweetly at Reborn's gaze. She knew what he was thinking.

"I hate her, remember? Just call me spiteful," Akane pointed out. She cocked her head thoughtfully. "But at the same time, I can't abandon her because I owe Rei. When I've repaid my debt, I'll leave her to fend for herself."

Reborn frowned. A horrible woman, wasn't she?

The next question he asked was to sate his own curiosity, not what he planned to report to the Ninth immediately after this conversation.

"How can she..." Reborn started. "...act like that?" Now he knew why Masami was more mature than girls her age. It was because of the experiments during her childhood. It must have been hard for her and **that **was an understatement. But exactly why... No, how could she be so cheerful and happy all the time? It didn't make sense to him. Akane shrugged.

"I dunno. But, let me ask _you_ a question, Reborn. Why don't you act bitter or some shit like that because you're an Arcobaleno? You don't find it unfair?"

Reborn blinked, surprised. How did some cocky young woman know about such a secret? He sighed. He doubted she would answer if she asked.

Akane's eyes softened at his silence.

"I think the she probably... doesn't want anyone to worry about her." Akane let out a small chuckle. "But _that _doesn't make sense either because she should be selfish -deserves to be selfish. You'd have to ask her yourself to get the right answer..."

Reborn couldn't ask. It would be too horrible of him to remind her of something like that.

* * *

"Wow!" Masami exclaimed, tilting her body to look at the room from behind Hibari. The room was large, spacious and furnished. She was seriously thinking that the one room was bigger than her entire apartment. Jealousy reared its ugly head and she silently fumed. Why did Hibari have such a nice room in his nice house? It wasn't fair.

_Umm... _Masami noticed Hibari staring at her childish pout. She felt her face heat up from embarrassment and hurried to moved smoothly past him to make her way to the window above the queen-size bed. The mattress squeaked under her slight weight as she waddled on her knees to the glass. Her eyes widened. It was a nice view. A great view, in fact. He'd given her a room that faced the front of the house, which gave her a wide look at the whole town Namimori. She squinted. She could make out the tiny outline of the school from here. Masami turned to Hibari reluctantly.

"Th...Thank you," she finally said, mouth in a tight line. It was strange saying 'thank you' to Hibari. This was the first time she had done so. She tilted her head thoughtfully, wondering why she hadn't thanked him when he had saved her (twice), then scowled. It was because it'd been _his _fault she had been attacked in the first place. That wasn't to say she was blaming him for something a bunch of punks decided to do but at the same time...

...She sure as hell wasn't saying thank you when he was the cause of the two separate incidents.

Masami looked expectantly at Hibari. He should say something now, right? His silence was making her feel very awkward. No catchy phrases, no blow to her self-esteem?

Hibari kept silent, metallic grey eyes staring intently at her own pink irises. After a moment, Masami looked away, unable to hold his stare.

"You know," she said with a frown on her face. What was with him? "If you don't talk, I'll get annoyed and then I'll get angry and then become rash and will change into a boys' uniform, cut off my hair and make a bad name for the Disciplin-"

Masami's tirade was interrupted by Hibari walking swiftly up to her suddenly crouching over her. She fell back on the soft bed with a squeak, long hair splayed around her head.

What did he think he was doing? Masami scowled. Trying to intimidate her, was he? Well, she wasn't going to lose that easily!

"Hibari," she began, only to be silenced by a hand on her throat. Her mouth fell open as she stared at his passive features. He was going to kill her because she had threatened him with the Disciplinary Committee thin-?

"Don't," Hibari declared, voice as cold and stoic as ever. Masami blinked. Don't? What did that mean? He smirked at the confused look on her delicate face and leaned in until his lips were against her ear.

"Don't put on a male uniform and don't cut your hair," he whispered, breath making a tingling sensation as it brushed sensually against her ear. "I won't allow you to."

"W-what?" Masami felt a blush making its way to her face. His other hand, the one not on her throat, was lazily running through her hair. She couldn't think with him this close to her, breath ghosting against her cheek while he ran his long fingers through her pink locks. The sensations she was feeling were so damned weird and...

"Ah!" Masami gasped as she felt his hand that had been on throat make its way down to touch at her leg. Hibari closed his eyes and moved down to rest his head against her chest, thumb now tracing agonizing circles against her leg as it slowly moved up to her outer thigh. She shuddered as she felt his eyelashes brush against her now-sensitive skin. Was this his egotistical way of expressing his supposed dominance?

_If it is then..._

His hand had reached the rim of her skirt. She knew she shouldn't have worn a skirt. Pants and t-shirts were all that her wardrobe was going to consist of after this.

_Oh hell, it's working, _Masami thought helplessly. For some reason, she wasn't even attempting to fight back. That would really need to change **right now **if she was going to stop him. Masami pursed her lips as she opened her eyes shakily.

"H-Hibari..." Masami whispered. Damn, a stutter. He looked up, eyes hooded and filled with an emotion she couldn't identify. He looked predatory, like a beast having chanced upon a delicious morsel. She scowled as her mind thought of the comparison.

"Get off," she demanded steadily. She had to get him off now. She put both hands to his chest and pushed lightly, trying to ignore how she could feel his well-defined chest through his shirt. Whatever he was doing, she wouldn't be able to deal with if her heart beat any faster. Her heart beat even faster as she felt him chuckle against her chest through her hands.

"Do you think an order from you will hinder me_?" _Hibari asked, lips brushing against the skin over her collar bone playfully. She flinched at the touch but it was nothing compared to what he was doing with his fingers at her leg. Thankfully, his wandering hand had stopped moving up on her leg, now only teasing the soft fabric, but still drawing circles on the skin.

"Just stop," she said plainly, voice desperate to sound in-control.

Pastel pink met metallic grey in a staring match. Whatever the hell he was planning, she wasn't going to lose.

Her eyes softened with relief when she felt Hibari move to get up, one hand poised to get up beside her head. Hibari caught her relieved expression and slowly, the frown on his face morphed into a smirk.

Masami's eyes widened in slight surprise as his other hand slammed on the soft mattress on the other side of her head, caging her in.

"You are mine." Hibari paused to take in the incredulity on her features.

_...Ugh._

Masami's face was completely blank, eyes hinting just a bit of fury. He watched as the light pink slowly became darker. Her eyes... Hibari had been so focused on her eyes that he had let his guard down (something only _she _could do) and felt himself kneed awkwardly in the side by her knee.

Masami stood up quickly and backed away from the prefect, who was recovering from her attack, chest going up and down from a mixture of exhaustion and embarrassment. She was surprised. He had let his guard down so easily.

Inside, she was dancing in circles about the slight one-up on Hibari. On the outside, Masami's arms were crossed over her chest, legs spread apart in a defiant stance.

"I'm not!" she insisted. Him claiming her was going beyond her secretary duties. _No, actually..._

She wasn't even his secretary anymore! She couldn't just go around claiming people who weren't part of his committee. Masami smiled sweetly, feeling slightly irritated on the inside.

"I'm not yours," Masami pointed out, taking her eyes off Hibari sitting on the bed that was no hers. "You're the one who fired me from the committee, after all. No take-backs!" She turned to him slightly then. "But... I guess I should thank you for firing me then." Because Hibari, in his own way, had been trying to protect her. She snorted inwardly.

_Even though he was just trying to protect his pet_, Masami thought. She moved to the closet and took a look inside. It was a _walk-in_.

_Aah... _Masami put a hand to her mouth, amazed. If only she had more clothes that were more glamorous and suitable to be hanging in a walk-in. As it was, she didn't have _any _clothes at the moment.

Meanwhile, Hibari was frowning, eyes glaring at the unaware girl.

Like always, she was thinking of something completely different from what was being said.

Masami suddenly turned around, smiling, and clapped her hands together in excitement.

"This is a great time to make up!" she exclaimed, taking a seat beside him on the bed. She rubbed the back of her head before letting out a nervous-sounding laugh.

"The last time we met and were both conscious and in fairly good condition, we left on bad terms, right?" Masami grin widened. "Since we're living together now for a while, we should put it all behind us now." She held out her hand, eyes urging him to take it.

"Truce, Hibari?"

"..." Hibari turned away from her hand. Masami let out an indignant screech.

"You idiot! Shake my hand, will you?" she exclaimed as she unconsciously put her hand on his arm and leaned in, trying to force him to looking at her. "You really are too stubborn, you know! Shake it!"

"...What happened?"

Masami's mouth opened in surprise at his sudden response. The enthusiastic temperament of hers went away at his question. She set her mouth in a tight line and moved away. Masami put her hands to her lap and looked down, oblivious to how Hibari was looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"I... Do you know that necklace of mine? I always kept it on because the mist flames in them suppressed any special..." Masami paused, smiling sadly. "...Capabilities, I guess. That guy, Mukuro Rokudo..." She didn't notice Hibari stiffening at the mention of the mist flame user. "...He saw through it and for some reason, broke the necklace."

Masami bit her lip. Should she tell him anymore? What would... he think of her if she told him about the Shiri family? She didn't want anyone to know.

The fear of someone thinking of her as something disgusting was strong. Masami was selfish. She knew that, which is why she didn't want to tell Hibari about what happened back then.

What if he pushed her away?

Masami decided then. Her eyes slowly brightened back to their same cheer as she looked up to give him a small smile.

"Haha..." She forced the laugh. "That's all I'm telling you, Hibari!" Masami exclaimed. "I won't tell you anymore." She noticed the blank look on his face and then realized she had neglected to remember that he most likely didn't know what flames were. Oops.

Masami laughed. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" At his scowl that confirmed her suspicions, she felt her mouth curve up slightly.

"I don't want to know anyway," he stated coldly, standing up again. "I don't care about your past."

Masami blinked, surprised. To anyone else, those words may have seemed hurtful but to her, they most certainly weren't. Was he trying to comfort her in his own way despite not knowing anything?

The cutting glare he gave her was more than enough as her answer that he was a big oblivious jerk, like always.

"Right..." The grin was genuine now. "That's great to know..."

* * *

"Well, we'll be going now!" Akane said loudly.

"See you later, Masami," Reborn added.

Masami nodded weakly. She knew for a fact that the two had overstayed their welcome, at least Hibari thought they had. The three of them were at the front door and exchanging farewells. She didn't know where Hibari had gone off to. Probably upstairs so he could avoid them 'crowding' around him. She snorted. The guy really had to get out more.

Akane flung open the door and Masami could feel herself wincing as it banged against the wall from the force of the pull. That may leave a mark...

"Toodles~" Akane sang out before skipping out.

Reborn followed after the woman but paused at the doorway. He turned to look back at Masami and smirked.

"Go to the rooftop in two days," he said.

Masami's eyes narrowed, suspicious.

"Why...?"

Reborn shrugged.

"I guess if you want to be of assistance to the Vongola family instead of dead weight, you should go. I won't force you or anything."

Masami blanched. His words and his tone and face were saying **completely **different things.

"Oh, and Masami." Reborn turned once more. Masami looked down at him, one of her hands on the knob.

"Hm?"

"Be careful..." And with one final smirk, the baby left.

...

Ah, her body felt so heavy now. Masami leaned against the closed door and slid down slowly, meanwhile running a weary hand through her hair. And what did Reborn mean by 'be careful'? She shuddered. She really hadn't liked the look he'd given her.

Masami flinched as she heard the sound of water from upstairs. Was Hibari taking a bath now? Well, she guessed that made sense. It was pretty late now. Masami stood up slowly, her bones creaking with the motion. It was time to get ready for bed, somehow.

As Masami walked up the stairs, she couldn't help but think that she didn't mind staying here for a while as much as she did a few hours ago.

* * *

**Replies:  
DarkRoadHina: **You would think Tsuna would get it by now. X)**  
anonymous: **I really do like as much Hibari as possible in a fic but at the same time, I just cannot understand why the OC would suddenly be best buddies with Tsuna and co. or have another love interest when **nothing **happened between them. He will be back next chapter in quite a long scene with Masami. And will freak her out. :) Since they're training, it's sort of like semi-serious/semi-normal life? Does that make sense? :)

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading. Please review to tell me what you thought of this chapter. :) They fuel my passion to write! **This story will not **exactly **be following the Canon storyline. **It'll be pretty lose at times to suit the needs of this story. Just a heads up.


	16. The First Night

A/N: Thank you to** DarkRoadHina, SnowieG27, hiyomi, Senna-X, MikaUchiha666, Chocolate Ribbons (twice :)), dokuki, Yellow-Sama, The Last Page (two times~!), icecream456, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Kichou, leogirl321, DatAznKid, sakuraddiction, Ellodia, stuffedninja101, fuwacchi (two too!), anonymous, glolliepwop and Oblivious** for the reviews and the support!

As always, thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading~

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 16: The First Night**

Hibari slowly lowered his head so it was resting against the tiled wall of the shower, one hand splayed on the same surface. The heat from the hot water of the showerhead raining down was more than sufficient to make up for the cold sensations permeating through his hand on the cold wall. His face was marred with a contemplative frown. He stayed under the water for a minute more before moving his hand to turn off the shower. He would need to check on her to make sure she wasn't causing any trou-

**_CRASH!_**

Hibari's eyes flew open in time to see the girl fall face-first through the bathroom door.

* * *

"Urgh..." Masami frowned worriedly. "I have no clothes..." She looked outside her bedroom window. It was dark. If the black sky didn't make that apparent than the dozens of twinkling stars in it was more than enough to convince her. She looked down at her clothes. They were wrinkled now from all the excitement of today. Just a few hours ago, she was flying out of a window from her ruined apartment and now she was staying at Hibari's house.

Masami blinked. Would it impose upon him to ask for some clothes? She didn't want to sleep in this outfit. Her eyes wandered to the desk to the small wad of money Akane had given to her. Her brows furrowed. If only she could just go to a store and get some clothes. Masami looked down at her clothes once more.

_Damn... _She stood up. She was going to ask him! The most he could do was hit her and since the necklace had broken, she was almost certain she'd be able to dodge easily.

The illusion of being a helpless girl had disappeared.

Masami traced the sounds of a shower being used to a closed door. She put a hand to the door and found it was a little warm. Did that mean this was the bathroom? Masami raised an eyebrow at the steam that was floating out from the bottom of the door. Hibari liked hot baths, did he? She put a hand to her mouth, quelling a laugh. Didn't that make his wounds sting more though?

_Oh, whatever..._

Masami sighed and proceeded to rest her forehead against the door. Her question for clothes would have to wait until he was done bathing.

_"Masami, the necklace will affect your motor functions -including your speed and power- and lower them significantly." Rei looked at Masami who was poking at the necklace before sighing._

_"Are you listening?"_

_Masami looked up and had enough shame to look guilty._

_"Yes..." She caught the bland look he was giving her. "**Now **I am," she amended, cheeks with a minute amount of baby fat puffed up defensively._

_"..." Rei looked away. "Not only will your speed and power go down but your appearance too. But most importantly, it'll suppress those storm flames of yours so that the Shiri family won't be able to trace us so easily. I infused my mist flames into the necklace. The abilities of the necklace will last a few years but..." He gave a dry upturning of the lips at the 11 year old girl. "...you'll keep looking 11 as you are now unless I -in laymen's terms- 'refresh' the mist flames and give you a new appearance, as in... adding another year."_

_He gave a heavy sigh after his long-winded speech. He wasn't used to speaking so much in one go.  
_

_Masami blinked, her clever mind already catching on._

_"...So that means... you have to tinker with this necklace using mist flames every year at about the time of my birthday?"_

_Rei put a hand on her hand and she looked up at his face with her open eye. He smiled a little.  
_

_"Yeah. That's exactly it."_

* * *

It'd been all the flimsy door's fault! How could a door just be forced open by someone's weight? She was aware that the house may have been old, but still, for a door to just open like that...

_That's so stupid! _Masami thought as she opened her eyes slowly.

The unexpected fall had hurt her knees and the palms of her hands. Thankfully, her head was tilted up at just the right angle when she had opened her eyes or else she would have caught an eyeful of more than just Hibari's none-too-pleased face. Black strands of hair framed his slightly flushed cheeks that were red from the heat and his eyes were clouded with anger. If Masami was a pervert, she would have noticed the way a particular drop of water was trailing down the curve of his jaw and then landing on his collar bone, making a path down his well-toned chest and going lower-

_OH MY GOD! _Masami exclaimed inwardly, outraged at herself. She was no pervert!

"...Hi," she said sheepishly, both hands held up at _just _the right appropriate places to cover as she focused on Hibari's face and _only _Hibari's face. "...I think the lock is broken or something."

Hibari's eyes narrowed.

"Out." Even over the loud hiss of the shower, his quiet, menacing voice carried easily.

Masami blinked, slightly dazed. She had... She wanted to talk to him about stuff with him earlier but he'd cornered her in the bedroom so they couldn't talk properly. With the thought in mind, Masami went and sat on the toilet seat. Hibari's eye twitched.

"Get. Out," Hibari repeated. Masami smiled spitefully. She felt a tiny bit sadistic. Without any clothes on, he couldn't get out of the shower to 'bite her to death'.

All she needed to make sure of was to not provoke him too much and he wouldn't attack her lest she be killed.

"I was wondering if you had anything I could wear for tonight," she explained and then her smile grew to a grin. "And what I'm doing now is revenge for backing me into a corner back in the bedroom." She glanced at Hibari.

...

_Oh wow. _Masami looked at the aura surrounding him, more accurately, his upper body. What a stifling dark aura. She let out a small laugh and saw that Hibari's eyes flickered with surprise at her small chuckle. She wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been looking at his face. She blushed and hurriedly looked away so that her back was facing him.

_Since I am obviously no pervert and am **not **looking at anything below! _Masami pursed her lips as she looked at the toilet paper in front of her.

"What I also wanted to ask was why you let me stay here. It's obvious that you hate crowding so I want to know why you let me into your house." Masami laughed again as her mind wandered a bit. "Pft. Is it because you're lonely? If it is, it's a pretty funny to me-"

During her rant, Hibari had taken his time in changing. She hadn't even realized he had turned off the shower and had been putting on his clothes. Before she knew it, Hibari was in front of her, bending down slightly over her while his hand rested on the cold tiled wall.

The problem was the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. She couldn't help herself and looked down for a brief moment. His pants were slung low on his narrow hips and she could clearly see the colour of his boxers. Black...

_Agh! What am I doing? _She looked up quickly. Looking up was better than looking down. Masami blinked as a drop of water landed in her eye from it dripping of his hair. Her mouth slowly became an 'o' as she realized what their position was. She hadn't thought he would take this short of a time and had planned to leave right after asking him why he let her into his house. Masami paled.

He was going to **kill **her.

Masami flinched as he slowly raised one of his hands. She shut her eyes tightly, hoping the pain wouldn't be too bad. Her eyes opened again when she felt something drop into her lap. It was a shirt. The shirt he wasn't wearing now because he had just given it to her. So, he wanted her to wear this for tonight? It wasn't too bad. Honestly, she was expecting him to give her nothing. Hibari's eyes wandered over her face once more before turning to go.

"You haven't..." Masami grabbed his arm and ignored his glare. She ignored how her hand slid against his wet and slick skin from when she grabbed it, but could feel her cheeks flush. "...answered my question yet." She made a small sound of surprise as she felt a finger under her chin.

"...Better here than at Yamamoto Takeshi's..." he said vaguely. He seemed satisfied at the surprise on her face and then left silently through the open bathroom door.

"W-what did he mean by that?" Masami looked down at the shirt. It was soft, most likely silk and she recalled back to when she had first touched Hibari's hair.

* * *

Masami couldn't take a bath. She had nothing to change into that was clean except for the shirt Hibari had just given her. With that in mind, she went to bed with Hibari's shirt on and her underwear, the skirt, dress and sweater thrown carelessly on the ground. Her shoulder still hurt from that trident pierce. How the heck was Hibari able to walk properly now?

_That Vongola medical team..._ Masami's eyes closed slowly as she drifted off. _...must be really amazing._

She hardly ever dreamed and if she did, they were actually nightmares, but as she fell asleep, she could somehow feel another party _forcing _her to sleep.

_Must be my imagination, _Masami thought in passing.

* * *

Masami blinked. She knew she was asleep, which was strange because wasn't it normal for her not to realize she was dreaming? The thing about dreams was that you didn't realize you were having one until you woke up. She looked down. She was still wearing Hibari's shirt. It was long, going to mid-thigh. She wasn't shivering because it wasn't that cold. It _seemed _to be a fairly pleasant dream so far.

"I'm obviously dreaming... But how do I know that?" She was in an empty meadow full of sweet-smelling green grass and dotted with sprinkles of colourful flowers here and there. Other than a tree a few feet from her, it was a meadow as far as she could see with her eyes. Masami remembered falling on her bed, dead-tired. Then maybe she fell asleep?

"Where am I?" Masami asked out loud.

This suspiciously relaxing setting was freaking. her. out.

Masami never had dreams like this! Usually they would be a bit darker and more on the side of nightmares than anything.

_Ah... What's this foreboding feeling I feel?_

As if on cue, she heard a soft chuckle behind her.

Masami spun around to face a person she _hadn't_ wanted to see ever again.

"...Rokudo Mukuro," she whispered, eyes wide. When did he get behind her like that? Was she really that out of practice that she couldn't sense people sneaking up behind her. He was really close too. How he managed to get behind her without her noticing at all made a shot of fear pierce her heart. The exact same feeling she had felt back in Kokuyo. Masami shuddered as he shot her with a disarming smile.

"Masami-chan," he greeted. "How do you find my illusionary world?"

"Your world..." She blanched as she backed up. He was too close for her liking. "It's disgusting. Doesn't suit your personality at all."

Masami noticed the flicker of annoyance in his eyes.

"I see," Mukuro said, chuckling again. "You know, I thought Kyoya would have chosen someone more meek."

Masami ignored his mention of Hibari and was more focused on other things. What was with that laugh of his? It sounded so _evil_. So incredibly malignant that it made shivers go down her spine. The glowing red eye of his did nothing to deter that impression Masami had of his. Rather, it gave him the appearance of a hellish demon disguised as a teenage boy.

_-Which may not be that far from true, seeing as how he _can _use illusions..._ she mused darkly.

Masami flinched as he focused entirely on her. She really didn't like how he was looking at her. Like she was a piece of meat. No... The look wasn't that at all. Maybe it was more like the confident look of a man who knew his capabilities of twisting a pawn to his liking before throwing them away when they became useless. Mukuro smiled down at her, one hand under his chin. The smile only widened when he saw fear in her eyes.

"Kufufu..." He replaced the hand under his chin to cover up his chuckles.

_Huh?_ Masami thought. What was he laughing about? Masami gasped as his hand shot out to grab at her arm. He pulled her close to him and held her firmly by her shoulders.

"You betray my expectations as part of a previous experiment of the Shiris," Mukuro remarked, ignoring her thrashing. She didn't have her normal strength in his world. She couldn't break away.

"Let go of me," Masami gasped out, struggling.

"Mm... I don't think I will." Her eyes widened as she fell back. He had suddenly let go off her.

He was forcibly holding her down. His heavier weight pinning her own against the sickly-sweet grass. One of his hands trapped her wrists above her head so that she couldn't move to hit him. Masami flinched turned her head to the side as he leaned closer. She felt weak all of a sudden. Was it because he had done something to her?

"My world, my rules," Mukuro answered, seeming to know what she was wondering. She turned her head to the side as he leaned in, eyes closed. That red orb of his was fearful.

She didn't want to see it anymore

"...Open your eyes, Masami-chan," he cooed.

Masami said nothing, opting to keep her eyes closed and away from his all-seeing gaze. He heard him sigh above her and felt some of his weight disappear.

Was he getting off her?

_Of course he isn't! _

Masami's eyes automatically shot open when she felt one of his hands playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Ah, there we go." Mukuro looked amused. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his blood red eye. It felt like it was pulling her in and not willing to let her go any time soon.

"That innocence of yours makes it easier for you to be manipulated, Masami-chan," he said cheerfully.

Masami stiffened as she felt his fingers lightly brush against the soft skin beneath her eye. Despite the smile on his face, his eyes were calculating and cruel.

"Pink eyes..." One of his fingers were dangerously close to poking her eye. "A result of the amount of experiments done on you..."

His hand moved her bangs aside. "The hair too."

Mukuro suddenly dug his nails into the skin beneath her bangs. Masami hissed at the sudden invasion of pain.

"What the hell are you-"

"Doesn't it make you angry?" Mukuro whispered venomously, eyes betraying any thoughts of hers that he had been calm just a moment before.

_What the hell?_ Masami thought as the cunning smile on Mukuro's face disappeared.

The glint in his mismatched orbs reflected slight cruelty and Masami grabbed hold of his wrist to stop his attack. His fingers only dug into her skin further. Masami hissed loudly. There was no doubt in her mind. She now had five crescent-shaped marks on her face. She blinked out the blood leaking out of one of the wounds and spilling into her eye.

It looked like she was crying bloody tears.

Mukuro smirked. "Really? _Really?" _he repeated.

He paused minutely and seemed to relax a bit. The weight of one of his legs lightened on hers. Now if she could only completely free it...

Masami's reeling mind paused in its escape plan as Mukuro let out a small sound. She turned her head up to face him.

Mukuro smiled at Masami. He was... chuckling and then it escalated into full-blown laughs. He put a hand to his mouth to quell the laughs. He was still on her but was no longer digging his nails. The happy blue sky with its white puffy clouds looked funny -in a sick, twisted kind of way- as the backdrop of a maniacal Mukuro. Just a moment before he had been so serious? What had happened to the scariness that shot fear in her heart?

_This guy... is completely off his rocker, _Masami deduced._  
_

Mukuro stopped laughing when he caught sight of her face.

"Haa..." he sighed, looking suddenly weary. He disliked that bewildered look she had on. It was somewhat annoying. He no longer found how she was acting funny...

"You don't think it's amusing? That complacent attitude of yours?" His eyes had taken a vicious gleam to them though a smile was plastered on his face. "They made us suffer: the mafia. Sitting back like that while children suffered under the hands of the _disgusting _members of families, the Shiris and Estraneos, that strove to get stronger at the cost of _anything_? And only did the _righteous _Vongola interfere with families dabbling in human experimentation when some of their **own **members went missing?" His smile was bitter.

"In some ways, the Vongola are as bad as the families that used us for their own gain."

Silence was his answer. Masami had gone back to struggling and his hands promptly clamped around her upper arms.

"And yet you still insist to consort with Sawada Tsunayoshi and his band of merry men," he remarked pointedly, eyes losing their amusement once again. They betrayed another emotion he felt for Masami.

Anger.

"It makes me quite angry when I see someone like you, Masami-chan," he whispered happily, a fake smile on his features.

His answer this time was a knee to the stomach, followed promptly by a strong kick in the same spot.

Mukuro winced slightly and clutched the sore spot which was slowly turning into a bruise. His eyes widened as he watched Masami stand up slowly. Blood ran slowly down from her eye and followed the soft curve of her jaw.

Ah, but the look in her eyes was what attracted his attention.

It was the eyes of a complete monster on the verge of **snapping**.

"Kufufu..." Mukuro picked himself up slowly, trying to ignore the injury. He was back to his normal cunning self. "What a look you have right now, Masami-chan. You look beauti-"

"Shut up." Masami moved a hand to wipe away the blood from her eyes, inadvertently smearing redness on her cheek.

Mukuro raised an eyebrow, amused.

Masami glared at him.

"You... I'm not like you." She slowly backed away from him, the darkness wrapping their tendrils around him like the mist he often wielded. "I'm not like you at all. I don't care about it. Not the revenge crap or your completely idiotic aspirations of taking over the mafia. And if you think I'm going to help you, you're gravely mistaken, Mukuro." She paused to take a breath.

Masami closed her eyes to calm her beating heart. She opened them to meet Mukuro's unreadable eyes.

"If _anyone_, whether it be you, or the Shiris or someone else tries to hurt my friends..." Masami's eyes narrowed.

"_I'll stop you_," she promised solemnly.

...

"So what you're saying is..." His smile was disarming. "...you're a coward, is that it?"

"H-huh?" Masami stuttered. She was at a loss for words. Her speech? Had nothing gotten through to him? "W-what do you-"

He interrupted her broken sentence with a chuckle.

"What admirable words you speak!" Mukuro exclaimed between chuckles. He was upon her in a few quick steps, taking her momentary shock to his advantage.

His lips upturned. "You didn't notice? You didn't think _I _would notice?" Masami felt the cold in her belly be shot with a quick jolt of fear. How could he see straight through her like that? First the illusion (which was plausible) and now this. No one except Rei could read her as easily as this guy.

He moved down until they were at eye-level.

"Your hesitancy? Maybe of conflict perhaps?" Mukuro was unnervingly close. "Which would be great if it was full of righteous reasons and noble causes, but..." He smiled. "It isn't, is it? You're an unambitious coward who fears getting hurt, right?" There was no longer playfulness in his eyes.

"...Another thing about you that irks me _just a tad_, Masami-chan," he said pleasantly.

"..."

Why did her eyes feel... like they were stinging? She wasn't used to this at all. The prickly sensation of her eyes was unfamiliar to her.

Why were his words getting to her like this?

_Maybe because it's true?_

Mukuro turned away from her, pleased at her reaction.

"Kufufu..." Masami could only see his profile now, his crimson orb eying her and sending chills down her back. "I already knew you wouldn't want to take up my offer of being my vessel to the outside world."

Masami's eyes widened. Is _that _what had been his plan?

"But I still wanted to talk to you," Mukuro continued on. She noticed the meadow was beginning to slowly fade away like his voice. Her body felt so heavy all of a sudden. Was she beginning to wake up again?

His echoing voice was like honey to Masami's ear. She felt her eyelids droop down as her body swayed from sudden exhaustion.

_"...Just a bit curious to see another experiment, I suppose." _

For some reason, Masami thought she could hear Mukuro's parting words mix with an, _"EXTREEEMEE!" _

Masami woke up fully when she felt the blow against her stomach.

* * *

"HUKK!" Masami choked out as she felt something land on her stomach. It felt like an elephant had jumped off a 10 story building and dropped down on her. She rolled off the bed and began coughing violently, meanwhile clutching her stomach.

_What the..._ Masami couldn't think with the pain numbing her coherent thoughts. She felt like she was almost going to throw up as she coughed more against the cold hardwood ground. What exactly had hit her?

"This is EXTREME! I'm finally in Hibari's house! OH!" a voice shouted.

_This..._ Cough. _...sounds_... Hack. _familiar._

One eye closed from the painful sensations, she looked up at her bed.

"Ryohei...?" Masami gasped out as she viewed the boy on her bed. He was in a jogging outfit, was breathing very loudly and looked sweaty. She winced as she sat up. There was no longer a jolting pain anymore but it still hurt. Ryohei looked down and saw Masami on the ground.

"HI!" he yelled out. Masami got up slowly and slouched over, hands still on her stomach. "How do you know my name!" Masami blinked. She had just seen him about a week ago. Why didn't he... Masami paused before sighing. Right, she didn't look like how when she had met him.

"It's Sakata Masami." Ryohei looked confused. "That girl that visited you at the hospital...?" Masami reminded. His eyes lit up in recognition.

"OHH! I REMEMBER YOU NOW. YOU LOOK REALLY DIFFERENT NO-MMPH!" Masami had put a hand on his mouth, effectively quieting him, at least for a moment. She glanced behind Ryohei and grimaced. He had opened the window above the bed and had most likely just decided to hop in without looking at what was below him. It looked like it was early morning. She could see orange staining the black skies. How long had she been 'dreaming'? Masami put a finger to her lips. It took Ryohei 15 seconds to realize what she meant and he nodded. She let down her hand.

"What are you doing here, Ryohei?" Masami whispered. He opened his mouth to speak. "Wait! Talk in a quiet voice."

"To challenge Hibari to a fight!" he whisper-shouted. She cringed at his volume but continued on.

"Do you..." Masami paused. "Do this a lot?" He nodded enthusiastically. She looked at her closed door, trying to predict how Hibari would react if he found Ryohei in his house.

She didn't think it would be good.

"What usually happens?"

Ryohei cocked his head, thinking.

"He usually defeats me to the EXTREME!"

"Shh!"

"OH! I mean... oh!"

Masami rubbed her temples. It was too early in the morning to deal with this. More importantly... she glanced at Ryohei and frowned when she saw him punching the air. She didn't want Ryohei to be a victim of Hibari's wrath. She tilted her head. He seemed like the type to be distracted easily. _Maybe... _

Ryohei's stomach growled. She grinned.

"Do you want me to get you something to eat, Ryohei?" Masami asked slyly as the boy looked at his stomach. Personally, she wasn't hungry. Being jumped on the stomach tended to do that to a person. Ryohei gave her a thumbs-up.

"If it isn't too much trouble!"

Masami let out an exhale and walked to the door before turning to him slightly. He looked at her expectantly.

"Uhh..." Masami blinked. "Before we go out, I need to tell you that we should be as quiet as possible, okay?" She seriously didn't want Hibari to wake up. Masami briefly wondered why she didn't want to particularly see him before shrugging. This wasn't the time to be thinking about it.

"Okay then." Masami opened the door. "Let's go."

* * *

"This is really good!" Ryohei exclaimed to Masami as he ate the food with the same enthusiasm he seemed to have for, well, everything. Masami's cheek was rested on one hand while the other was gripping a cup of hot tea. She smiled as she watched Ryohei who was sitting across from her practically shovel the food into his mouth.

"Thanks." Masami managed an uneasy grimace as he slammed the bowl back on the table. She blinked as Ryohei turned to look at her with curiosity in his eyes.

"I hadn't known you were Hibari's maid, Sakata!" he said loudly.

Masami responded by spitting out the tea she had in her mouth at his face.

"Hot!" he shouted and reached for a napkin while Masami's immediately darting her eyes towards the direction of where the stairs were. She sighed in relief when she realized no one, namely Hibari, was coming downstairs to hurt them.

"I'm not his maid!" Masami denied, frowning. Did she and Hibari really exude a master-servant relationship, even though she wasn't part of the committee anymore?

"HUH?" Ryohei's brows furrowed. "What are you to him then?"

Masami's eyes widened, she and Ryohei both oblivious to how the question sounded. Her fingers thrummed against the table's surface thoughtfully as she searched for the right words that wouldn't make her look bad. Mooch? Free-loader?

"I'm... his roommate," Masami said lamely.

"OHH! I see!" Ryohei gave her a thumbs-up. "That's good!"

Masami raised an eyebrow. "Why is that good?"

"I FORGET! But I'm pretty sure it's good!"

"Huh...?" What did he mean that he forgot? How did he even know it was good she was staying here then. Her eye twitched.

"Wait, wait! I'm remembering!" Ryohei gestured with his hands before he screwed his eyes shut in intense concentration.

"Don't strain yourself..." The amount of effort he was putting into remembering was admirable... if not a little worrying when Masami saw a vein pop out of his forehead.

"Oh! Now I remember!" Ryohei punched a fist into his hand."I've been breaking into his house for a while now and noticed his parents are never here. In fact, I've only seen them once!" Masami blinked.

"So..." She paused. "Does that mean they're always on work trips?"

Ryohei nodded enthusiastically. "Maybe!"

Masami frowned uneasily. _Not a yes or a not but a 'maybe'... _She had thought he had purposely forced his parents out of the house. Masami frowned. Okay, now that she re-thought that theory, it was pretty stupid...Hibari wasn't the demon's spawn, which had now been proven by Ryohei telling her he had parents.

"It must be... lonely..." she finally intoned slowly, half-lidded eyes staring at him. Her hand clapped over her mouth as she realized what she said. She looked down at her half-finished tea, embarrassed. What a corny thing to say... Ryohei nodded obliviously and stood up suddenly, chair legs screeching as they were pushed back.

"WELL! TIME TO CHALLENGE HIBARI TO THE EXTREME!"

"Ugh..." Masami stood up with him. What had happened to her careful plan of distracting him? "Please don-"

"What do you think you're doing?" a cold voice demanded from behind her. Masami unconsciously shivered as she felt an ice-cold stare pricking at her back. She turned her head, inch by inch, hoping that by some miracle, it wasn't Hibari.

No, there was no doubt in her mind that the boy behind her was Hibari. She shrank back as his glare swung from Ryohei to her. She could feel a blush heat her cheeks as his eyes drifted down slowly to land on her bare legs. She self-consciously covered them with her clothed arms. Why had Hibari managed to notice something like that while Ryohei didn't? Albeit, Ryohei seemed to be a little slow when it came to his surroundings and such. _Ugh... still... _Hibari stared for a moment more before turning to glare at Ryohei. Ryohei crouched into an offensive position. Hibari took out his tonfas.

"I challenge you to an EXTREME duel, Hibari!"

Masami's eyes widened at the spikes that appeared on Hibari's tonfas. Why did he seem so angry all of a sudden? He didn't usually take the spikes out for fighting, so why now?

_MAYBE because Ryohei broke into his house? And MAYBE because you fed the intruder? _her mind supplied to her. Masami blinked before frowning guiltily. The voice in her head was right...

"Fine with me," Hibari stated coolly, inadvertently snapping Masami out of her reverie. Ryohei seemed bewildered before he grinned triumphantly.

"What's this Hibari?" Ryohei yelled. "Finally tapping into your inner man? You always say no when I ask!"

"...I'll bite you to death," Hibari promised before shifting into an offensive stance as well. Masami bit her lip. She was almost afraid to interfere. The tension around the two was palpable. Biting her lip, she stepped in between them, defiantly ignoring the glare Hibari was giving her.

"Ryohei..." Masami's brain spun, trying to come up with a reason to stop the fight.

"It's bad doing strenuous exercise right after eating!" she blurted out.

...

"You're..." Ryohei began. "YOU'RE RIGHT!" He looked to Hibari. "We'll have to EXTREMELY fight another day then, Hibari! I gotta get back home! Kyoko will be wondering why I'm still out on my jog!"

Masami waved absentmindedly as Ryohei left. Phew. _Dodged a bullet right there..._

She felt a presence immediately behind here. Her eyes widened as she saw hands on either side of the table in front of her, boxing her in.

_...and entered the line of fire of another gun_, she thought nervously. She turned her head slightly and managed a sheepish smile at the frowning Hibari.

"I made tea?" Masami said, unsure. "Would you like some?"

...The look he was giving her definitely did not want tea.

"Why did you interfere?" he asked. Masami raised an eyebrow. She looked down, his gaze too penetrating for her to stand.

Masami sighed. "Because I didn't want you to beat up Ryohei," she said plainly.

Hibari's eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"You could be his replacement," he stated, bringing a tonfa up to her neck in warning. Masami set her mouth in a tight line.

"Go ahead," she said offhandedly. Hibari's eyes flickered with surprise. She shrugged in a pacifying manner before grinning. "I _did _interfere with your fight and used your food." She paused. "You deserve to be mad _this time_." She hefted herself to sit on the table behind her and her eyes met Hibari's steadily. Masami _knew _she was going to be hurt and this was one of those times when it was warranted.

She just hoped it wouldn't be bad enough to send her to the hospital.

Masami fidgeted as Hibari observed her. She felt her cheeks heating up. What was wrong _now_? If he wanted to hurt her, could he have the decency to do it without making her nervous first?

"Heh." Hibari smirked and leaned towards her until his mouth was by her ear, She could clearly hear it, him breathing as her hair was brushed away by the moving air. Masami felt stiff and her hands unconsciously tightened onto the edge of the table, turning her knuckles white. She flinched and closed her eyes as she heard him chuckle into her ear.

"...Herbivore," he whispered smoothly. Masami's eyes were still screwed shut when she answered.

"Yes...?" she murmured quietly, mouth barely moving from the monosyllabic question.

What could he want to say? Was this another plan to intimidate her? Ah, why did she feel so nervous and scared all of a sud-?

"...Put on some pants," he finished languidly.

...

_WHAT? _Masami's eyes snapped open and she watched in complete bewilderment as Hibari moved back, a satisfied smirk on his face. In the next moment, he left the room, leaving Masami to slowly release her hold on the table and slide off the table to land on the balls of her bare feet.

She hadn't grown up like other kids. Masami realized that. In the hospital, Reborn had even said she was ignorant to a lot of things that normal people would be aware of, which was why she hadn't been so embarrassed, _but now..._

_UGH! _Hibari was the only one who could make her feel so weird! That's it! Definitely only plain shirts and pants from here on in! _  
_

"What...?" Masami could feel her face getting hot. "What..." She felt so frustrated now and she clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. But it didn't feel exactly like frustration. She didn't know what she was feeling now. Her heart was beating too fast, her face felt red-hot, her legs felt like jelly and she could feel her stomach quail from the recent encounter with the prefect.

_It would have been better if he had just beat me up! _Then she wouldn't be feeling like this. What 'this' was. First that incident in her bedroom, then the other in the bathroom and now this. _Why...? _

"**WHAT THE HELL**?" Masami shouted, voice as loud as Ryohei's.

* * *

Replies:  
**DarkRoadHina:** Hibari and Masami are awesome in their own special ways, yep! I feel bad for writing all of it, so don't worry LOL.  
**SnowieG27:** I'm sorry. I forgot to reply last chapter. What did you think he was about to do, hmm? XD  
**The Last Page:** S'all right if you're grammar isn't that great. I'm guessing English isn't your native tongue? Her reflexes were a little above average, even then. Thank you! I try to build the relationship us best I can!  
**anonymous:** Yamamoto is effective bait since Hibari is quite possessive~ At least in my fic. Their development is like... one step forward, two steps back. X) Thanks! They help. I want to know what readers thinks~ Feel free to give yourself a name though so I don't have to keep referring to you as anon all the time!  
**glolliepwop :** Haha, I'll do my best. :D  
**Oblivious:** I wonder why you chose that name... o: I was trying to evoke innocence and cuteness! And denseness. X)

* * *

A/N: I thought this chapter was pretty hard-core. Hope you guys felt it too! The Mukuro part anyway. The Ryohei part... ehh. I rather enjoyed writing this chapter. I like writing for Mukuro. He's good for developing the story. And he's pretty-looking. That too. I felt very, ahem... erm... during the bath scene when writing. This fic will never go to the M-rating! Just saying. o_o And Ryohei's part...? 'Nuff said!

Thanks for reading and please tell me what you thought of this chapter. They further fuel my desire to write. :)

* * *

**Next Chapter: Re-meeting**

**_"Yamamoto Takeshi. Get off her."_**

_"Hibari, I'm not taking care of it. Just. **No**."_

**"Reborn... why are we spying on those two?"**

_"It has... memories in it! Of course I won't throw it away."_


	17. ReMeeting

A/N: Thank you to **fuwacchi**, **Kichou**,** Foundation**, **DarkRoadHina**, **oblivious**, **Mega Kishii**, **Senna-X**, **MikaUchiha666**, **leogirl321**, **ausumist**, **stuffedninja101**, **clicky**, **DatAznKid**, **hiyomi**, **hauarie**, **monekyspro**, **Chocolate Ribbons** and** icecream456.** You guys have no idea how happy I am when I see a review. Thanks for the support!

Thank you to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 17: Re-Meeting**

Hibari had left the house before Masami, wanting to get to his beloved school as soon as possible.

"Grr..." she growled through her teeth in frustration.

Masami looked out from the window again. The sun was just rising from the horizon and the sky was completely orange now. She looked down at her wrinkled clothes she was wearing. How was she supposed to go to school with no uniform with her? She crouched down on her haunches as she clutched her head.

"Where the hell is my uniform?" Masami muttered to herself. She didn't recall wearing it to Kokuyo. Now where did she leave it? Was it in her apartment? Her shoulders slumped forlornly. If it was, how was she going to go to school then? It was most likely now ashes and cinders now. She looked at the stairs thoughtfully, wondering if Hibari had more than one of those specialized uniforms of his...

_"Don't even think about it."_

Masami swiveled on one foot. _WHAT WAS THAT? _She put a hand on her forehead. Now she was hallucinating. Great. Was she really so scared of him that she was beginning to hear his voice in her head? Masami pursed her lips and dug into the recesses of her mind for the answer to the location of her uniform.

Masami snapped her fingers, eyes widening.

"Oh yeah!" She had left the outfit at Yamamoto's house when they had been skipping school.

Sniffing triumphantly, Masami left the house. Her next destination: Yamamoto's house!

* * *

"Hey! Takeshi! Go put down the chairs from the chairs, okay?" Yamamoto's dad shouted to him from the washroom. Yamamoto let out a laugh.

"All right!" he called back as he made his way down the stairs to the restaurant. He turned on the lights before getting to work setting up for another day. It was a daily routine, waking up early (even earlier on days with morning baseball practice) to help set up the shop before heading off to school. Then it was back home after school to help with the customers.

Yamamoto's eyes landed on the plastic bag on the bar. He grinned. In it was Masami's uniform. Through all the commotion for the past while, he hadn't had the chance to give it back to her. He planned to return it to her in half an hour by going to her home. Having walked her there a few times, he already knew where the cozy apartment was.

Yamamoto heaved a merry sigh as he put the last chair done. That was the last thing that needed to be done. He looked down at his uniform. Nothing amiss. He was good to go. He massaged his shoulder. Those practices in the dojo preparing for his ring battle were really starting to take a toll on his body. It was worth it though. They were getting to the serious part of the mafia game and although he was a good sport, Yamamoto had to admit that he didn't like losing if he could help it.

_A little less than a week before the battles begin,_ Yamamoto thought happily. He couldn't wait!

The sound of knocking made him raise an eyebrow. The shop wasn't opening for another three hours. Who could that be then?

The knocking persisted and Yamamoto jogged to the door, an apologetic smile already on his face.

"Hahaha, sorry." Yamamoto opened the door. "We aren't open yet. You'll have to come back-"

His eyes widened.

It was a young woman with unique dark pink hair, a lighter shade of soft pink staring up at him. She grinned and Yamamoto immediately recognized the grin.

"Masami?" Yamamoto asked. He blinked. "Why are you... How..." He saw her eyes drift behind him and saw her looking at the bag.

"I need those!" Masami said running past him to clutch at her clothes.

"..." Yamamoto laughed. "You're Masami!"

Masami nodded. "Yeah..." She looked guilty and anxiously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Could I... change here into the uniform?"

Yamamoto was sincerely confused. This was Masami, right? Her mannerisms were like Masami's, for sure. The smile of hers had given it away immediately. He cocked her head. He hadn't seen her since the incident in Kokuyo. What happened? She still had the same facial features as before, just a little older. She was still the same height, but her body was a little differ-

Yamamoto looked away immediately.

"Haha," he managed one of his customary laughs. "Sure, sure. Just go upstairs and you'll see the bathroom on your right."

_Maybe a growth spurt is finally kicking in_, Yamamoto thought happily as he watched her walk to the door leading to upstairs.. And maybe she had coloured her hair and put in contacts as a sign of growing up! Yeah, that must be it!

Masami turned around at the last moment.

"I'll tell you everything while we're walking to school, okay?"

Yamamoto grinned.

"Okay!" he said merrily as he tried to hide his confusion. Why did Masami... look sad all of a sudden? That wasn't like her at all. He forced the thought out of his head. She just said it would be explained in a while, so he just had to wait.

"Take your time."

* * *

"You guys are a bunch of idiots," Masami said bluntly.

"Eh?" Yamamoto turned to look down at her. They were presently in front of the school, waiting for the gates to open. There was about another 10 minutes. They had come early so that Yamamoto could set up stuff for his baseball practice.

"Hahaha, why do you say that, Masami?" Yamamoto could feel a grin making its way to his face as he saw Masami trying look ahead of her with the large stack of sushi trays in her arms. His dad had given it to the girl after seeing her and declaring that she had his 'blessings', whatever that meant. Did Hibari even like sushi? She hoped he did or else half of this would go to waste.

"Stop laughing..."

Yamamoto immediately stopped chuckling and realized Masami was being serious by the tone of her voice. Her face expressed hurt and anger and he felt his eyes soften as he looked at her more. He suddenly blushed. Ever since this morning, he seemed to be looking at her more. Maybe it was because her previous young appearance had always stopped him from getting too close. He clenched his fist and tried to smile at her again.

What now, now that she didn't look like a cute little girl anymore?

"You are such idiots! If I had seen you in Kokuyo, I bet I would have punched you too!" Masami sighed. "It's a good thing for you that I'm not as mad as I had been then."

Yamamoto's eyebrows raised in shock. Is _that _where Tsuna had gotten the bruise on his face from?

Masami stomped her foot and then pivoted on one foot to turn to him fully. Yamamoto winced as a few bento boxes clattered to the ground. They were usually used for delivery and so didn't crack open upon impact with the asphalt. Masami ignored the fallen food and poked a slender finger to his chest, the other hand still holding several of the boxes.

"You, Yamamoto-kun, have to promise me that you'll come to me for help next time!" She turned away, an irritated look on her face. "Or else I swear that I will punch _you _if it happens a-"

Before Masami could finish her sentence, she was pulled forward. The momentum made her stumble forward and successfully drop the rest of the bentos she'd been holding.

Yamamoto had enveloped her in his arms. His grip on her tightened to a firm hold when he felt her body stiffen before reluctantly relaxing.

"Y-Yamamoto-kun?" Masami exclaimed, trying to lift her head up to meet his eyes but unable to do so because of his face buried in her soft hair.

"Sorry..." he muttered into her hair. They were close, close enough for Yamamoto to feel her chest touch his as she sighed. But he tried to ignore that, or else he would have noticed more things about her that had changed too and thinking about _that _would have been too soon.

Yamamoto hadn't realized he was this perverted.

_Only with her..._

Masami slowly put her arms around him, embarrassed. She had such a flustered and disgruntled look on her face that Yamamoto had to laugh.

"R-right. As long as you don't do it again, okay?"

Yamamoto closed his eyes and brought her closer, savouring in the brief contact. "Okay..."

Masami was completely red now, noting that he still hadn't let go off her yet. "Y-Yamamoto-kun?"

Yamamoto smiled against her head. "Sorry. Just a little longer, okay?" He paused, remembering what he wanted to ask when he first saw her this morning. "What's with the sudden change in looks, Masami?" She stiffened in her arms, her breath hitching for a moment in time before she slumped against him, unconsciously putting her head against his chest.

Masami looked up to smile at him. "Because that necklace I always wore broke. It was sort of like a magic trick and now the magic is gone. That's as simple as I can get my explanation to be."

"No... I didn't mean exactly that." Masami blinked and Yamamoto grinned. "I mean, why are you like a pretty pink princess now?"

Masami blinked again.

And then she flushed red.

"P-Princess?

Yamamoto nodded happily. "Yeah!"

His brows furrowed in confusion as her embarrassed expression slowly changed into a slightly uncomfortable expression. He could tell she was trying not to show it but her eyes gave it all away.

"I was experimented on when I was young, a bit like what happened to Rokudo Mukuro." Masami smiled then as his eyes darkened with sorrow. He opened in mouth only to be interrupted by her again.

"But it's all right now," Masami assured him. "Because I'm with you guys and I'm having a lot of fun here in Namimori."

Yamamoto was at a loss for words. "Masami... I..." He blinked as he was suddenly pinched on the cheek by Masami. He winced at the attack on him. She scowled.

"I said it was fine," she insisted stubbornly."Don't look so sad about it, Yamamoto-kun."

"Masami, but still-"

"Get off her," a voice suddenly growled out of nowhere.

The pair's eyes widened as they realized their position and jumped back like magnets repelling one another. The both wore the same shade of red and looked to the ground guiltily like children who had been caught with their hands in a cookie jar.

Masami looked up reluctantly to see who had seen them like that and her eyes widened. The gates were open now, a key in the hand of the displeased witness.

"Hibari..." she whispered.

"What did you think you two were doing?" Hibari hissed out, hand making its way towards his sleeve where his tonfas were hidden. Though he was addressing her and Yamamoto, he had only eyes for the tall boy whose eyes were glaring right back at the prefect.

Masami looked back and forth between Hibari and Yamamoto anxiously, knowing that this situation was exactly like the incident in the park a few months ago. And if it was a replica of the incident, she knew that Yamamoto would get hurt if she didn't intervene this time.

Yamamoto put on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"We were just hugging. Nothing wrong with that Hibari, right?" Yamamoto stepped in front of Masami, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Hibari. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't test me, Yamamoto Takeshi," Hibari said in a tone that obviously conveyed he didn't think it was just an innocent hug.

Masami bit her lip as Hibari held his tonfas in front of him. She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her resolve before opening them once again. She stepped in front of Yamamoto protectively.

"Quit it," she ground out, eyes flashing with anger at Hibari's threat of violence. "It's too early in the morning to deal with your antics."

"...You too, herbivore," Hibari said, eyes merciless. "If you keep exhibiting this kind of behaviour, I'll bite you to death."

"What behaviour?" Masami spat out angrily. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. "Yamamoto-kun?"

Yamamoto grinned at her. "Let me deal with this."

"But..."

He cocked his head. "It's a bit like... a fight between guys?" He gave a small laugh. "Dealing with pride and whatnot."

Masami raised an eyebrow. Wasn't their 'manly pride' was what got them hurt in Kokuyo? She bit her lip as she looked to Yamamoto and Hibari. Even with her intervention, it didn't seem like they would stop.

"Fine, but..." Masami turned to Hibari while she addressed them both. "Don't get too reckless!" she warned before stepping back reluctantly.

_It shouldn't be too bad, right? _she thought as she watched them crouch slightly. _I can always take them to the infirmary and then treat their wounds myself because that bastard Shamal refuses to treat guys, right? _

Even with all the reassuring Masami was doing in her head, she still couldn't help but heavily quell the urge to grab both their heads, knock them against each other and then knock the two morons out.

"Oh hey..." a faraway voice began. Masami turned around to see a group of boys clad in baseball hats with mitts and bats on their hands away at some distance. Was that Yamamoto's teammates?

"It's Takeshi!" one shouted out boisterously. Hibari and Yamamoto had also noticed the boys' arrival. Yamamoto turned to grin at his teammates.

"Yo!" he called out merrily, one hand up in the air waving.

Masami watched as they all crowded around Yamamoto and tried to talk to the taller boy all at the same time. She put a hand to her mouth to hide her grin. How cute.

The hand was forcefully yanked by another hand. It was Hibari. Her eyes widened as she felt him harshly pull her, making her follow him as he stalked past the 'crowders' through the gate of the school.

"W-w-wait," Masami stuttered in shock. "Where are you taking me?"

"I need to ask you something," Hibari answered in deadpan. She scowled.

"Can't you ask me here?"

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "No."

Masami and Yamamoto's eyes met for a moment and his own widened in realization. Hibari was using the opportunity to take her away again. He moved to stop them but was interrupted by another teammate asking him a question.

Yamamoto could only watch helplessly as the pair entered the school, the girl stumbling after the one who was leading her.

* * *

"You're kidding me," Masami said, face blank. Hibari smirked from behind his desk. The intimidation factor of it was somehow deterred by the cute little bird sitting on his head.

Hibari responded with a pointed glare.

Masami raised an eyebrow. "So let me get this straight: You trained some pervert's bird to think you were his master -The bird that's now sitting on your head-" She paused. "And now you want me to take care of it for a day or so. Am I getting all of this right?"

Hibari's silence was Masami's answer. She bristled angrily.

Masami's pursed her lips. "I would like to say I refuse."

Hibari closed his eyes tiredly. The fights with the whip-wielding herbivore were entertaining but they were slowly tiring him out. It wasn't as if the yellow bird was reliant, _but more so..._

What would it take for her to stay?

"Denied."

His eyes glittered with amusement as she glared at him, fearless as always. He propped a cheek on one hand.

"You still owe me for letting those students go," he reminded sharply. Hibari watched as her eyes light up with remembrance of that incident before she groaned. He slowly got up and walked to her until he was a foot in front of her. She hadn't noticed, choosing to glare at the carpet in annoyance.

"What? Stupid, stupid, stupid girl! Dammit..." Masami muttered to herself before looking up to him again. She backed away immediately when she realized Hibari was in front of her. His lips twitched in amusement. She gasped as he suddenly grabbed her chin and brought her closer to him until their faces were barely an inch apart. Hooded eyes looked intensely into her shocked light orbs.

"Don't fail me," Hibari muttered against her mouth, so close to hers that she might as well have been speaking the words herself. Masami squeaked as she suddenly felt something land on her head. The feeling of weight was overshadowed as Hibari turned away from her, his lips brushing against her jawline.

Masami fell back with a thump, panting.

"Ugh..." she got up slightly, moving her legs together protectively. She was wearing a skirt after all.

"Y-you bastard!" Hibari had opened the door of the room, one foot already out. Masami's eye twitched. He always ignored her at important times.

"Where are you going?"

Hibari turned slightly to look at her with half-lidded eyes, a small smirk on his face.

"To the roof." His eyes sharpened suddenly. "Don't follow me or I'll bite you to death." The door closed with a clack and Masami was left gaping at the door, a cute yellow bird flying circles around her head.

Masami stretched out her hand, wondering if the yellow fuzz would land on it. To her amazement, it did. Masami tilted her head, a silly smile on her face as the bird looked at her.

"For something of Hibari's, you sure are cute," she remarked lightly, stretching two fingers out to nuzzle its little head. It continued to stare up at her and then seemed to smile. Masami gushed.

"Ow!" She immediately pulled her hand back as the bird pecked her. Masami grimaced at the sight of her finger. It was bleeding now. She turned to glare at the bird, noticing that the little smile it seemed to have on looked more like a smirk. Masami's mouth parted.

"Don't tell me... you don't like me..." She hadn't even done anything to it yet. How could it not like her? She scowled.

"Well?" she said impatiently, oblivious to how silly she looked talking to a bird.

The little animal responded by pooping in her hand.

* * *

It had pooped on her again when she was off-guard. This time on her head.

Masami sighed as she awkwardly put her head under the washroom's hand dryer stuck on the wall. She had been excused from the last class by the teacher after students started complaining about the classroom smelling bad. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the disgusted looks on her classmates' faces after they indicated that the culprit was her. Their expressions had been a deep contrast to how they looked at her when she had first entered the classroom.

She smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Some had looked surprised and some boys had slightly red-pink cheeks. She understood the look of shock but not the reddened faces. Maybe they were mad at her for some odd reason?

Masami frowned, now focusing on the task at hand. She couldn't believe the bird. It was as unbelievable as its owner in some ways.

Masami moved away from the dryer and looked to the mirror. She ran a hand through her hair, disentangling any small tangles in it. Her impromptu hair wash left the strands looking frizzy and she halfheartedly tried to pat down the mess. She had chosen one of the more secluded washrooms to clean up. She didn't want more people to look at her with grossed-out expressions.

Masami stared critically at the bird perched on the metal tap. It tilted its head at her adorably. But now she knew better.

"You know," Masami began. "I don't know why you hate me but still, we should try to get along, okay?" She held out her hand for it to climb on, this time wary that it could poop in her hand.

**_"Hibari, Hibari!"_ **the bird chirped out cheerfully. Masami tilted her head, still looking at it with caution while it chirped out the prefect's name a few more times and then started singing the school's anthem. Now that Masami thought of it, the bird didn't seem to have a name, did it? She hadn't heard Hibari call it anything nor did she think he would spend time on giving it a name.

Masami moved her hand slightly closer to her face; not close enough for it to poke her eyes out but close enough to stare steadily in its beady eyes. She looked at it contemplatively for a long moment before her eyes brightened with inspiration.

"Hibird."

It, Hibird, cocked its head.

"Hibird," Masami repeated with more confidence. "I'll call you that from now on, okay?"

Hibird's eyes screwed shut, yellow fuzz raised up as small tremors emanated from its round body. Masami's eyes widened. Was it going to cry? The name wasn't _that _bad!

The bird promptly pooped in her hand again.

...

"THAT'S IT!" Masami spat out. Why couldn't it have just chirped that it didn't like the name? Damn the little thing. Masami sucked in her cheeks.

"I'm calling you Hibird whether you like it or not!"

She decided then: She was returning the bird to Hibari whether he liked it or not!

* * *

Masami sucked in air through her mouth before letting it out loudly.

She had lost the bird.

She had lost the _stupid _bird.

Hibird had flown off as soon as they had gone outside. It was tricky, Masami would give it that. Now she had to explain to Hibari the situation. She gulped. Ah, she hoped he wouldn't be too angry. Yesterday, he'd been acting so weird. Granted, it had been Sunday and people tended to be less grumpy when it _wasn't _a school day. There was one hole in Masami's logic though.

Hibari _liked _school.

_But still..._ Seeing him like that this morning had assured Masami he was back to normal now.

Masami took in another gulp of air and put her hand on the metal door to the roof.

_Here goes nothing..._

"Excuse me, Hibari-GAH!" She slammed the door shut when she saw a... whip(?) headed towards her head. A loud 'CRACK' reverbrated from the door. She cringed and reluctantly opened the door again to peek outside of the small opening that she had made. She saw a man, she guessed to be in his early 20s, scratching the back of his head nervously and holding the _whip. _

_That must be Dino... _Reborn had informed her of the ring battles and as well as any information involved with the Vongola family. It'd been an eye-opener. Sure, she had been associated heavily with the mafia once so maybe she should have seen the signs of what Tsuna and the others had been doing for the past year...

In Masami's defense, she had always been around Hibari and also _never _would have suspected Tsuna to be in the mafia.

The man flapped his hands frantically. "Sorry! I don't know what's wrong with me today!" She grimaced when he managed to hit himself with his own whip.

"OW!" He chuckled, but to her ears, it sounded forced and _pained_. "Anyway, come out, come out. You must be Masami-chan, right?"

Masami nodded. "Y-yeah." She was assuming it was safe now, but kept in mind to keep at least 10 feet away from the Cavallone boss.

"Are you okay...?" He was rubbing his bruised cheek and she instantly noticed the bruises and cuts all over his body.

_He hit himself with the whip that much...? _She sweatdropped and briefly pondered how the man had gotten into the position of the head of a family with such... clumsiness.

The real answer came from behind her.

"Herbivore..." She shivered as the deep tenor voice made its way to her ears. It must be her nerves that had made her shiver.

Masami turned around slowly to face Hibari. _Be calm. Act normal. Ignore how he's looking at you up and down!_

She smiled sweetly. "Yes, Hibari?" She said as she backed away a bit from the murderous aura.

"...Why are you up here?" he said accusingly. He had raised his tonfas and she noticed the blood on them. She quickly deduced it was Dino's blood, which was why the blonde now had so many scratches and injuries. Masami blinked. He was so angry about at her, she could tell. What was with this dictator-like attitude of his anyway? Lately, he had been more forceful with his orders.

"I think that... maybe Hibari should calm down?" she said sheepishly.

His eyes narrowed.

Okay then...

"Masami-chan." Masami turned back to see Dino smiling at her. He had a cell phone out. "Would you mind taking my place for a while? I heard from Reborn that you can fight." _Not really..._ "I have to go find Romario and do something real quick. I'll be back, one hour tops."

_ Romario? Oh. _Now she remembered. Reborn had told her that Dino couldn't fight to his full capabilities without his subordinates around. Her eyes softened at the sight of his wounds. He was really hurt.

Masami nodded. "Sure." She smiled lightly at Dino. "You should take care of your injuries too."

Dino's eyes widened before brightening. He grinned. "I'll be going then." He ran past Hibari, but not before stopping to whisper something to Hibari. Hibari scowled and then swung a tonfa towards a smiling Dino, who dodged it. He ran out the door and Masami could hear the distinct sound of a body falling down the stairs.

_Dino-san..._ she thought.

"Hmph." Hibari loosened the tie around his neck. "Have you prepared yourself, herbivore?"

She waved her hands in front of her complacently. _NO! _"...I was actually hoping we could talk-"

She didn't have any time to dodge as he swung a tonfa to her stomach. Hibari's eyes widened as she caught it and pushed him back slightly. He smirked. _Interesting..._

Masami gave an uneasy smile. "Maybe over some food? You must be hungry. I'm guessing that being you (_a fighting maniac_), you didn't eat yet. I'll treat you."

Hibari scoffed. He slid out of Masami's loose grip. "I'll listen to you if you fight me."

She barely registered the next hit as she felt the blow against her side, but she held strong and looked at Hibari fiercely, who was smirking devilishly.

"Urgh..." she groaned. He had even released the spikes out of his tonfas. Why was he so mad? Him being mad was making her mad. _Stupid Hibari!_

Hibari leaned in, a slight frown on his face. "You'll pay for lying to me, herbivore."

Masami looked at him blankly as she tried to stave off his brute force digging into her torso. What was he talking about? She had never lied to him, at least not a lie he couldn't see through easily. What had happened recently that may be contributing to his anger?

Oh.

Masami's eyes narrowed slightly. Was he mad that she looked a little different? But he had seen her yesterday so why hadn't he been mad about it yesterday?

_Talk about a delayed reaction..._ she thought dryly. She didn't think she would ever really understand what Hibari was exactly thinking.

Masami glared. "Fine."

She knew she wouldn't be able to push the weapon away since Hibari seemed pretty damned bent on digging the pointy spikes into her clothes. _This will hurt. _Hibari's eyes widened as she grabbed the spiked weapon and shoved it down, spikes ripping her shirt and staining it with her blood. She took advantage of his surprise by punching him in the stomach, just as strong as she always had been, and felt satisfied as she heard his grunt as he staggered back a few steps.

Masami smiled sweetly while he recovered. "You pointed out my strength before. But just now, I was holding back." A bluff. That had been a bluff that she hoped Hibari would believe. She wasn't that strong, just surprisingly so for her stature. She was hoping he had taken enough damage from that that he would stop all this fighting, at least for a while. Masami hopped back, putting more distance between them. She clutched her side with a bloodied hand, the bare skin of her stomach was cut and dripping with blood, as she eyed Hibari wearily, whose eyes were glittering with bloodlust now. She shivered. She was scared, but knew that she had to hide it. If Hibari saw her afraid, then she knew he'd take advantage of it.

He returned her uneasy smile with a bloodthirsty grin.

_Ugh..._ She winced inwardly. He hadn't seemed to take damage at all from that. Masami knew her own technique, built on some martial arts she learnt from when she was young as well as her own unique style, would not hold well against Hibari who was quite experienced. She was rusty and to add to that...

_Once upon a time, I may have been able to beat him..._ Masami thought but Hibari's growth really was amazing. In just a few days, he had become much stronger than before the Kokuyo incident. Masami frowned. How much stronger was he exactly? How much had Hibari grown?

Did she even have a chance against the him now?

"I'm looking forward to this," Hibari said quietly.

_Here he comes...! _Masami thought as she saw Hibari speeding up at her. She sidestepped him and turned around to trip him with her foot. He expected it and stepped over it expertly, then made a roundabout, his tonfas aiming for her head. Masami dodged it by a few scant centimetres, strands of hair were cut off. There was a moment of reprieve, most likely surprise on Hibari's part that she had dodged his swift attack. She took it gratefully and effectively. Her eyes hardened with resolve as she saw an opening. She lunged forward, foot propelling the motion as she aimed a direct blow to Hibari's already-bruised stomach. Imagine her surprise when she felt herself losing her balance and instead of lunging, Masami tripped forward.

"AGH!" she yelled, flailing. Her eyes widened as she felt her face meet Hibari's shirt. She didn't notice how she had unconsciously grabbed Hibari's sleeves to balance herself.

_What...?_ Her gaze wandered down to see... chains wrapped around her ankles. Her eyes followed the path of the chains to see the origin of the mysterious weapons that bound her and her eyes narrowed as she saw the chains had come from the end of Hibari's tonfas. Hibari didn't seem to be attacking her, so she took the opportunity to look up at Hibari. She blinked, confused. He was smirking down at her, but wasn't attacking her. Why?

"Is that really all you have?" Hibari murmured at Masami's face as he looked into her orbs. He briefly noted that her eyes were indeed strange: light pink with a bright red line cutting diagonally across the pupil. Masami struggled to get up, but felt herself locked into the compromising position by Hibari's hand that was planted firmly on the small of her back.

"No, it isn't..." she stated darkly. The prefect watched, fascinated and distracted, as the pastel pink turned into a darker shade from the anger as she glared at him.

Then he felt her fist hit him across the mouth hard and he fell back, pulling the chains with him.

"Ah!"

_Bad idea! _She forgot about the chains. She felt herself nearly trip and she kneeled down on one knee. The chains were cutting the circulation to her foot, making it numb.

_Great. I can't feel my foot and I'm bleeding a lot. _Nearly two weeks of recuperation in the hospital had been wiped out in less than five minutes. Masami looked down at Hibari, who was resting on his elbows after getting up from his laying position and looking at her strangely again.

Her eye twitched.

"What!" she snapped defensively. Was he going to call her a weakling or a herbivore? She doubted she was going to compliment her on her fighting capabilities.

She winced inwardly. _I wouldn't either._

And when Masami thinks she has Hibari all figured out: violent and mean, he surprised her again.

He smirked. "Not a total weakling."

Masami he watched with incredulous wide eyes as he licked the blood on his lip -_her _blood- slowly with his tongue.

_Damn you!_ she thought as she felt her cheeks heat up.

* * *

Dino slowly put down the binoculars from his eyes.

"Reborn..."

"Mm?" Reborn was still staring at the pair who were sparring on the roof of the building. The baby noticed that Masami's movements were violent and erratic. She had serious intent to harm Hibari who was dodging most of her attacks easily. He smirked. She wasn't the greatest fighter he'd seen, but someone of her intelligence could win a battle with wits if it came down to it, which made her movements more intriguing to Reborn. She wasn't concentrating from what he could tell, instead, she was randomly aiming for Hibari with no thoughts on her next move. He smirked. The Cloud Guardian must have angered her greatly. Her opponent, however, wasn't fighting at all, just dodging, with a playful smirk on his face. He sighed. What an enigma. The usually calm and kind Masami was being violent and the violent and cruel Hibari was on the defensive.

Dino looked nervously at the two moving specks from his perch on the roof of a high-rise. "I still don't get why you called me just so we could spy on them. Could you explain?"

Reborn finally removed the binoculars.

"Stupid Dino." Dino flinched but said nothing. "Hibari hates being tricked, even though that wasn't Masami's intention. It's better if they sort their problems out right now before any battles begin."

Dino's eyes widened comically as he repeated what Reborn had just said to him in his head. "WHAT?" He turned back to the ant-like figures. Their fight had sort of looked like... a lovers' quarrel, but this was Kyoya they were talking about. _Kyoya. **Hibari Kyoya.**_ Reborn telling him had only confirmed his suspicions. He knew Masami was part of Kyoya's committee, but to actually have the pair... He shuddered. They didn't seem to have a very good relationship anyway.

"Then are those two-?"

Reborn shook his head. "Of course not..." Dino shivered as he felt Reborn's gaze on him. The look in the baby's eyes was something to be wary of. It spoke of plans. Plans that Dino knew would **not **be good.

Reborn looked back to watch the fight.

"You're taking them both, right?"

Dino smiled uneasily. He was reluctant to bring Masami but knew his old tutor wouldn't stop trying until he said yes.

"Yeah, the flight's tomorrow morning."

* * *

"It hurtss..." Masami moaned as she rolled to her side on the ground. Her eyes squinted as the sunlight hit her face. They had been sparring for over an hour. She was pretty amazed she had lasted as long as she did, though...

_Haha... with my sucky stamina..._

Masami's eyes searched for Hibari who was standing up, brushing non-existent dirt off his jacket. Masami scowled. He had stopped the fight before she could get hurt more than she was now. Masami let out a small satisfied smirk. She was hoping that blow to the stomach would leave a bruise for the next day.

"You trounced me," Masami announced loudly. She sighed loudly and put an arm to her eyes. She had to treat her wounds, but she felt so tired and crappy at the same time.

_Hmm... maybe a little nap on the roof. _Masami had seen Hibari do it tons of times, surely she could make due with the hard ground as her bed as well. She curled up in a ball and closed her eyes.

_Just for an hour or so..._ It was uncomfortable, but she felt so weary that she could be sleeping on a bed of needles and she would have still drifted off.

Masami felt a foot suddenly prod at her side, the side that was injured. Her eyes snapped opened and twitched. _I was so close to sleeping too! _She knew who the foot belonged to and steeled herself to look at the familiar blue eyes. She turned on her back to see Hibari looking down at her coldly. His shadow was blocking the sun, so she could glare at him fully.

"What? I'm trying to sleep."

Hibari looked away. "You fight with a weapon, don't you?"

Masami looked appreciatively at the blue sky and stretched lethargically. It was somehow pretty peaceful now.

"A small blade." She paused. "It's in my school bag." It was a good thing she had left not only her uniform but her school bag at Yamamoto's house too or else the knife would have been ruined by the fire. Masami was unaware of the glare Hibari was directing to her. Only he could bring weapons to school.

"I'm not about to make that an excuse though," Masami declared. "You beat me fair and square." She eyed Hibari and saw him looking at her blankly.

"But... it'd be nice to have a rematch later."

...

"...Go to the infirmary," he ordered suddenly after a brief silence. "We're going out to eat after."

It took her longer than usual to process the words.

"Eh?" came her intelligent reply. Then, "You can't be serious, Hibari! It was sparring OR eating. Not both! Besides..." She sat up. "I don't have any money."

Hibari frowned. "So you were lying again."

She blushed, embarrassed because he had hit it spot-on.

"N-no! I do have money!" She saw his triumphant smirk. _Crap..._ She did have money, but that had been for clothes to replace the ashes that were her old wardrobe. If she said she had no money again, then they'd just be back to square one. She didn't want to get beat up again.

"Ugh... okay, fine..." she said in resignation, shoulders drooping sadly. She would be able to afford maybe one outfit. That was fine, right?

Masami stood up and hobbled over to the door. Her foot still felt numb from getting squeezed by the chains. She turned behind her. The young woman had been wondering something ever since the one-sided match had ended.

She cocked her head. "Hibari, are you still mad at me?" Masami asked. He _had _beat her up, so did that mean all that anger towards her was gone?

Her answer came in the slight narrowing of Hibari's eyes.

She grinned. "Ehe. I guess that means no."

* * *

They had gone to a family restaurant. Of all the places they could have gone to, they went to a run-of-the-mill family restaurant.

"I thought you were rich," she commented at the boy who was sitting across from her. "Hmm... I hadn't known rich people ate such... ordinary food."

Hibari stared at her.

She flushed at his lacklustre response. Had she said something stupid? "I-I mean... I'm pretty happy you chose here, since I wouldn't be able to afford caviar or any other kind of fancy food." Unless Hibari ate like a pig and ordered several meal sets, Masami thought she would have enough money to buy some more clothes. She didn't think he did though. She never saw him eat either, so that must mean he ate very little. She smiled happily.

Masami raised an eyebrow at the head prefect's silence. He would normally say something by now. The only thing Hibari seemed to be doing in her presence was constantly stare at her. _Oh..._ She patted her pink hair self-consciously and crossed her legs unconsciously, cringing inwardly when her leg brushed against Hibari's. The booths in the restaurants were such a tight fit.

"My appearance looks strange, doesn't it?" she said quietly, carefully. She pointed to the bright red lines cutting across her pupil. "Especially my eyes, right? Oh! And the clip you gave me..." She carefully touched the pink Sakura clip that was pinning long bangs. "...it looks a bit weird with pink hair, doesn't it even though it's a lighter shade."

"It's fine," Hibari stated. She looked at him, surprised. That was as close to a compliment Hibari would get. His eyes traced over her fragile astonished features to land on the sakura clip. He frowned. "Get rid of that."

He raised an eyebrow at her reaction. "What? Why!" Masami asked. She took it out of her hair and clutched it protectively to her cheek. A few now-loosened strands hit her face. He looked like he was going to snatch it from her hair if she didn't hold it. "It has memories in it."

Hibari scoffed. "Memories..."

Masami nodded furiously. "Of course! It reminds me of the first authentic Japanese festival I've ever gone to." She blinked. "Why do you want me to throw it out anyway?"

He turned away. He looked... embarrassed and slightly pissed now? _I wonder why... _

"Never mind," he said curtly.

Masami pursed her lips. "Now I want to know even more..." She was about to question him more when their waitress came over.

"W-what would you like to eat today?" the waitress stuttered out. She was constantly looking at Hibari nervously; eyes ever so often darting between Masami and Hibari.

Masami smiled. "The special please." The waitress bobbed her head and wrote in chicken scratch writing on the little notebook in her hand.

"A-a-and you, Hibari-sama?" The poor girl looked as if she was going to faint from the death aura surrounding Hibari.

Masami eyes furrowed. _...-sama? _

Hibari proceeded to glare at the waitress coldly. Masami eyebrows scrunched together. He wasn't ordering?

"YE-YES!" the waitress practically shrieked out, flinching away from Hibari's glare. "N-nothing! Hibari-sama wants nothing! Got it!"

_...Really... Hibari is so..._ She couldn't even find the proper words to describe him. He wanted to go out to eat but wasn't eating. Masami frowned. She didn't want him to watch her eat. That was so... awkward.

_What was with** that**?_ He always did these little things that confused her. It was frustrating when he did so too but it wasn't like she could ask him about it. She carefully studied him, He'd closed his eyes again so she took her sweet time doing so. The sun was reflecting off his dark raven hair and off his long eyelashes. There was no longer that annoying frown that was almost always on his face. Instead, his mouth was slightly parted and his face looked blissfully relaxed.

Masami had to admit it. She looked down at her hands. He was sort of... nice-looking._  
_

Hibari opened his eyes. He didn't bother to address how she let out a small shriek and had taken a great interest in her nails.

_He didn't see me, he didn't see me looking at him_, she assured herself.

"Hey..."

"YES?" Masami all but shouted. Hibari's eyes narrowed but he didn't mention any of her strange behaviour out loud, thank god.

"You're going tomorrow," he said coldly. Masami raised an eyebrow. Going where?

_"Go to the rooftop two days from now."_

_Oh yeah..._ Masami remembered Reborn mentioning something about going to the school's roof tomorrow.

"Yep," she hummed out. Hibari shut his eyes again, seeming to be satisfied with her answer.

Masami's cocked an eyebrow.

What exactly was happening tomorrow?

* * *

**Replies:**  
**Foundation:** Hibari *hearts* I wouldn't mind getting bitten to death by him.  
**oblivious:** I c wat u did thar!  
**clicky:** Haha, thanks for the idea. Who knows? She may later!  
**monkeyspro:** I hope I keep sucking you back in. Masami somehow ended up cute. I dunno exactly how it happened. X)

* * *

**A/N: **Someone drew Possession fanart! Thanks to **DarkRoadHina** for drawing Masami with her real appearance. It looks great. Thanks again! The link is up in my profile. She motivated my lazy butt of a self to get up and draw something too. The link for that pic is also in my profile. It looks better zoomed in.

Oh and I'm once again advertising that **KHR RP forum** I'm in. It'd put me over the moon and more if more people joined. (:

I'd like to ask something. Could new (or old?) readers tell me how long it took them to read the chapters up to now? It's for... a secret project. :) Answering this question would be great if you could.

**Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought of the chapter/story. Comments, questions, critiques?**

* * *

**Next Chapter: No title yet**

_"Like what you see, Masami-chan?"_

_**"I wouldn't have bothered with you if you were weak, herbivore."**_

_"Boss, did you notice-"  
"Yeah. We better call Reborn."_


	18. First Signs

A/N: Happy belated birthday, Hibari!

Thanks to MikaUchiha666, DarkRoadHina, Sesshylover978, Kichou, stuffedninja101, DatAznKid, Senna-X, X-CrystalJade-X, oblivious, dokuki, leogirl321, The Last Page (twice), hiyomi, Celestrial, ausumist (twice), 10th Squad 3rd Seat, fuwacchi, Chocolate Ribbons, thealmightydee9009 and bobabumpbabaaaaaaah.

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 18: First Signs**

"No way."

Dino looked very uncomfortable as he tried to hold Masami's flat gaze. He rubbed the back of his messy head and laughed nervously. Hadn't Reborn told her? He had thought Reborn had told the girl.

_Damn. No wonder she's mad..._ Dino sighed. Leave it to his ex-tutor to make him handle telling her himself. He had to somehow convince Masami to come with them or else Reborn _would not _be pleased. Dino looked to Hibari for guidance and was bemused to find him leaning against a wall having a one-sided conversation with that Kusakabe kid who looked fairly worried. That meant he was on his own for this one, without what little help Hibari could have given. He turned to face the girl again.

Dino flinched.

Masami had a defiant air about her, feet apart in a purposely insolent stance and eyes glaring intently at him. Her arms were crossed in challenge, daring him to give reason why she should go with them. Her attempt at looking mean was lost on him. Dino suppressed a smile. Having gotten to know Hibari in a short amount of time, he was surprised to see someone so willful in the prefect's presence. He'd expected someone more meek and obedient. Like, for instance, how Hibari wanted her to come with them but how...

_She isn't listening at all..._ Dino sighed. He guessed it was his fault for not making sure the girl knew. He didn't think Masami **knew **Hibari wanted her to come with them.

_I'm not too sure if that's what he wants though..._ Hibari was hard to read at times but on the other hand there had to be the reason why the boy had made her come with him this early in the morning, right?

"We're going to be traveling, Masami-chan!" Dino grinned. Masami continued to stare.

"I've already been to a lot of places in Japan, Dino-san," she deadpanned. "I don't want to miss school to see _more _of Japan."

Dino laughed. "No, no! We're going out of the country." He saw her eyes waver for a moment from their resolve. He raised an eyebrow playfully.

"Like beaches and forests!" Masami squinted at him and Dino was slightly unnerved. Don't tell him she could see through his lie. He blinked. Well, he guessed if Hibari paid attention to someone, they would at least be _remotely _intelligent. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He was going to have to tell her the truth then.

"Well... we don't really have enough time to go anywhere else except for this great place for training..." he admitted sheepishly. Masami's shoulders stiffened.

"So you were lying..."

Dino shrugged apologetically, a nervous grin on his face, as she glared at him.

"We need help with Kyoya's training. And I think it'd be good if he expanded his horizons by fighting with someone other than me, you know?"

Masami's eyes softened. And he could see her resolve was wavering.

"I didn't pack anything..." Then she mumbled, "Not that I have anything to pack anyway."

The Cavallone boss smiled. Just a bit more...

Dino nodded happily. "Yeah. I heard about that fire in your apartment and even arranged some clothes to bring with us."

"Wait."

The Cavallone boss cocked his head at the gleam in Masami's eyes.

"Hm?"

"**Free **clothes?"

"Only if you go with us to help Hibari's training," Dino replied. He leaned down to whisper in Masami's ear. "It's a great opportunity to help your friends, including Tsuna."

Dino moved back in time to see Masami purse her lips thoughtfully.

"I'll..." She looked up at him, eyes bright and determined that the blond couldn't help but smile.

"I'll do it!"

Dino smiled. If he had known that all he had to mention were free clothes, they could have ended the conversation ages ago.

* * *

Immediately after Masami had agreed, she'd been whisked away to the small Namimori airport to Dino's _private _jet. The blond had sheepishly explained to the amazed Masami while boarding that they would have gone on a regular plane if not for the fact that Hibari didn't like crowding.

Masami couldn't help but let out a gasp as soon as she entered the air-conditioned space.

Dino gave her head a brief pat on the head as he and Romario passed her by.

"Like what you see, Masami-chan?" Dino asked cheerfully as he sprawled himself down on the couch.

Masami could only nod silently as her eyes took in the site of the interior of the jet. The plush chairs and the couch Dino was situated in were a light cream colour that was further enhanced by the soft lights shining above. The entire interior was spacious, providing passengers with enough room to sit comfortably _and _stretch their legs if they wanted to. There were three dining tables for two scattered throughout the large space with the same plush chairs near to sit and comfortably eat. At either end of the plane was a large screen T.V. equipped with a DVD player and Blue-ray that took up more than half the wall. Masami could see that the T.V. nearest to the cockpit door barely fit it _and _the door frame. She'd never seen T.V.s so huge!

As Masami was gaping in awe and walking around to poke and touch at various things, she neglected to see Dino sneakily sidling up to Hibari who had claimed a chair in the corner as his territory. He was at a chair with a dining table by it so Dino plopped himself down across from Hibari.

"..."

"Yeesh." Dino smiled at Hibari's glare. "Cold as always, Kyoya."

"...What do you want?"

Dino shrugged. He had a lot of things he wanted to ask the Cloud Guardian, especially concerning Masami. She was presently chatting animatedly with Romario while pointing at the Blue-Ray and asking him how to work the thing. Dino chuckled. He was guessing this was her first time in a plane, let alone a private jet. Masami had mentioned something about being all around Japan, so he was assuming that didn't mean all over the world. But they wouldn't be going all over the world anyway. Where Dino was planning to go was just one secluded location that Reborn had taken him to. They didn't have enough time to go to the Americas, seeing as how the battles were beginning in a little less than a week.

Dino turned back to Hibari and noticed the skylark gazing at the girl who had put a hand to her mouth in surprise as Romario turned on the T.V. in time for a huge fiery explosion to digitalize on the screen in high definition.

"What do you think of Masami-chan, Kyoya?" Dino asked happily, purposely making himself sound innocent. He hadn't heard a lot from Reborn about her. All he knew was that she had transferred to Namimori Middle about a year ago and had been associated with the mafia. Dino sighed wearily. He'd also met that woman, Kouno Akane.

It'd been a tiring experience to say the least.

"..." Hibari shifted his gaze to look outside. Dino looked at his student expectantly but patiently. It wouldn't do anything if he provoked Hibari.

"I want to fight her again." Hibari paused and Dino blinked. That's it? That was all Hibari thought of Masami?

A potential sparring partner?

_Agh..._ Dino frowned. _How disappointing..._ He'd been expecting something more dramatic...

Hibari's lips curved into a small smirk and Dino's eyes widened.

"...She's the only one who's warranted enough attention."

Dino blinked. Then his jaw dropped.

"W-W-WAIT! WHOA! Repeat that, Kyoya!"

Never mind. This was definitely dramatic.

* * *

"You two can start any time, you two!" Dino called out to Masami and Hibari. Right after getting off the plane, the four of them were driven to a helicopter pad, where they had then flown to the secluded wilderness. It reminded Masami a bit of the Namimori forest but in contrast, the forest they were in seemed more wild.

More dangerous...

It wasn't as warm as it was back in Namimori but warm enough for her to be wearing the... outfit Dino had given her.

Masami looked down at her attire and frowned. It was pretty. Too pretty to be wearing for sparring practice. It was a simple light blue dress made of a sheer fabric that let the skirt flow around her legs and reached just above the knees. It had thin shoulder straps and a snug bodice and a small red bow on the centre of her chest that seemed to glow with the same shade of red Masami was sporting on her face as she stood with Hibari in front of her, looking at her with bored eyes.. This... this was so embarrassing! What was this? She looked like she was about to go out to skip and prance around the shopping district for a shopping date rather than begin to fight.

The wardrobe that Dino had gotten for her consisted of dresses and frilly things that were on the more immodest side than anything. He had been as incredulous as her when they had opened the luggage bag. Masami scowled as she recalled how Dino had said that he had just let Akane pick out anything she wanted in the Namimori shopping district.

Damn her.

Masami self-consciously tugged at the bottom of the outfit. It wasn't like it was too short but with Hibari looking at her like that, it only gave her bad memories of what had transpired with Hibari in her was either break her vow of not wearing skirts, school clothes excluded, or go under the threat of ruining her school uniform. Masami scowled as she thought of what kind of sadistic expression Akane had had on when she'd been going crazy with someone else's money. Her fist clenched.

Seriously. Damn her.

"Masami-chan... are you okay?" Dino called out.

Masami was thrown out of her stupor by the voice. She gave a glance to the blond and nodded quickly before turning back to Hibari who was staring at her coldly. He had his weapons out and... _are those chains? _She hadn't seen them clearly the first time but now... _He really has chains equipped to those tonfas of his..._ Attached to the end of his tonfas were chains that meandered around him like ribbons. And if that wasn't enough, she could see the darker metal of spikes sticking out of his tonfas like thorns.

_All right then..._ Masami gulped. It wasn't that she was that afraid of his fighting abilities or anything. She was sure she could hold her own in a fight against him even though she was rusty and was _very _aware Hibari had been training under the Cavallone boss, meaning he had picked up a few tricks that could possibly result in her ending up injured beyond unimaginable-

Masami stopped herself before she psyched **_herself _**out. It wouldn't do any good to do that, now would it?

It was those bloodthirsty eyes of his that she had only seen directed towards ne'er-do-wells or people he viewed as strong that was making her a _tiny_ bit anxious. The times she was hit by Hibari had never been because of his love of fighting. He hit her because he was either annoyed or angry with her. She... had never been on the receiving end of those eyes because she wasn't a bad student and...

_...Hibari has never viewed me as someone strong..._

Masami bit her lip hard and shifted to a defensive position. Self-pity time was over. She was sure he would attack at any given moment now and couldn't be distracted.

Hibari did not disappoint.

_He's gotten faster,_ Masami noticed, barely spinning away from a blow which would have definitely caused a concussion to her head if she had even been a millisecond too late. He positioned himself closer to her and followed up by aiming his other tonfa at her arm. She wasn't so lucky this time and could feel the sharp spikes from graze her arms and leave deep talon-like scratches. Hissing from pain, she back-flipped away from Hibari, putting a considerable distance between. Masami squinted. He looked... disappointed.

"...You really are a herbivore," he stated coldly, walking slowly up to her. She was panting heavily already, cheeks flushed from the adrenaline and chest moving up and down in an erratic fashion.

Masami scowled at his statement. _Every single time...! _She was so tired of him. Always patronizing her, continuously calling her weak at every chance he got and looking at her with those kind of eyes that stirred such _stupid _emotions from her.

She wasn't going to take it anymore.

Hibari raised an eyebrow slightly as she slowly stood up, renewed determination in her eyes. He smirked.

"...Hm."

Masami heard Hibari's breath stop as she dashed towards him. She faked a punch to his stomach, catching him offguard when her fist suddenly changed directions to land an uppercut on his chin. She was satisfied to hear him grunt. Even though all she had managed was a possible bruise to his face, she still felt victorious. That would teach him not to underestimate her the next time he called her weak.

But being Hibari, he recovered quickly. Masami's eyes widened. In a lapse of less than a second, she was defenseless as she put her fist back down. Hibari used that to his advantage to aim a roundhouse kick to her side. She caught the blow, grimacing in pain before grabbing hold of the leg with both hands to spin in a full circle and fling him away.

"Crap..." Masami breathed out. She wasn't struggling to breath _yet_ but could feel the telltale signs of it starting. Since Rei's magical hocus-pocus illusions had disappeared, not only had her strength and combative skills come back fully but also a tiny bit more stamina. Hell, she didn't even understand how _illusions _could affect her stamina but was thankful she had a bit more to use as fuel.

Masami glanced at the direction she threw Hibari in and grimaced. She had thrown him against some rocks. Judging by the cloud of dust, she had thrown him _hard_. She hoped he wasn't too hurt or anything. Suddenly, she felt the pain on her arm and remembered what he had done to her. Whatever guilt she had for throwing him disappeared.

Masami's eyes widened in amazement as Hibari stood up, not unhurt but shockingly in better condition than she had thought.

Her cheeks puffed up proudly.

"Not so weak, am I?" Masami shouted at him. Hibari paused from wiping some blood on his cheek onto his sleeve.

She stiffened as he looked up to smirk at her.

"...I wouldn't have bothered..." A pause as he picked himself up and began making his way toward her motionless form. Masami eyed him warily.

Hibari was barely 10 feet away from here now. She stiffened and began to stand up swiftly.

"...if you were."

Masami gasped as she ducked to avoid the first of many attacks. He began an onslaught, each swift and devastatingly powerful. She could only dodged as she was backed further away into the wall of rock that was fast approaching her back.

Once she reached the wall, she was definitely going to be hit.

An idea popped into Masami's head.

An absolutely crazy idea. One that wasn't the most smartest idea to act on.

Masami shrugged inwardly. _Eh, go all or nothing..._

Hibari's eyes narrowed. Masami wasn't planning dodge the next one and he knew it. What he didn't know was what she had planned.

She cursed as the tonfa slapped against the hand that had caught it. He was stronger than her, no doubt about it but-

Masami smiled wryly. She had a high pain tolerance.

Hibari responded by using his other weapon to try to hit her and make her relinquish her grip.

Masami expected it and jumped up fluidly to avoid the hit. She precariously balanced on the second tonfa. She knew she had only a moment's time to stay on the weapon. Hibari was strong but she couldn't think of anyone who could support another person's body in such an awkward position. Her hand reached for the dagger she kept around her waist. She didn't know what exactly she was going to do with the blade. All that was rushing through her was adrenaline, fear, excitement and a strange undeniable urge to _kill_-

A hand on her wrist stopped Masami from slashing down on Hibari.

...

Dino grinned at the pair, ignoring how Hibari was glaring at him.

"Good job, guys!" He smiled down at Masami. "I can see that you have some great moves, Masami-chan."

"Ah..." Masami looked down quickly from embarrassment. "Thank you..."

Dino chuckled. "Just relax for a bit, you two. Take a breather." He was relieved to see Hibari was stowing away his tonfas.

The blond ruffled Masami's hair, much to her chagrin. "We'll get back to training in an hour so come back here when time's up. Go explore or something."

Masami blinked. "...Huh?"

Hibari was already walking away. Her eyes widened at the sight of Hibari leaving before looking to Dino for guidance. The man nodded encouragingly at her.

"Masami-chan, take care of him, won't you?" Dino asked. "Come back after an hour break, okay?"

"..." Masami sighed. "All right."

Dino grinned. "Thanks," he called out to her as she dragged herself to following Hibari.

...

Dino was still smiling. It was only when he saw the couple disappear that the expression disappeared. He heard Romario walk up to him.

"...Boss," Romario began. "Did you notice...?"

Dino nodded seriously. "Yeah... We're going to have to tell Reborn." He had seen it. The way Hibari had paused, but only for a mere moment in time. Sure, Dino knew he could have defended himself, but there was something. Something that made Dino step in at the last moment.

The look of blood lust in Masami's eyes.

Romario was already getting out a satellite phone.

"...Masami-chan had really intended to kill Kyoya just now."

* * *

**Replies:  
oblivious: **Lol, date. :) A night? Wooww! Long time. I have a lot of secret projects for Possession (only two). The first one is mentioned below. Sorta. XD  
**That Last Page: **Oh, I see. It's pretty impressive you can read English then! I edited the reaction stuff a little. Thanks!  
**bobabumpbabaaaaaaah: **Being immature, I was reminded of McDonald's from your review and your name LOL. Or was it on purpose?  
**DarkRoadHina: **I'm not sure if I replied to you. You'll see more of her style later? I always seem to say what I don't like to everyone and I'll be doing it again now. X) I don't like fight scenes since they're usually drawn out and boring but I hope the sparse amounts in the fic keep your interest**.  
**

* * *

A/N: **Please read this whole thing.** I know it's annoying when an authoress talks about things not pertaining to her story. I don't plan to ever do that in these A/N's, so yeeah. This all relates to Possession in some way so read on if you can. X)

I edited some parts of the last chapter and will continue tinkering with the story this weekend. No major changes but this is just a heads-up.  
I'm becoming more active on LJ and plan on posting a spoiler of a special M-rated story for Possession this weekend. My LJ is f-locked so you'll have to friend me if you would like to see it. I don't friend random people but feel free to introduce yourself on my LJ and I'll most likely add you.**  
LJ. Won't. Load.** Which makes me sad.  
I think there's something wrong with my inbox because people who normally send me PMs aren't sending me PMs, so I suspect something's wrong. Sorry if I didn't respond to any PMs~ For everything else, I promise to respond to everything by tomorrow. :)  
Possession got two pieces of lovely fanart. Thanks to **psychoticluv** and **Adorkable93** for drawing Masami. The links are on my profile. It'd be fantastic if you guys checked it out.  
Thanks to those who answered my question last chapter. The question is still open so thanks ahead for anyone who answers the question.

OKAAAY! I think that's it. For those who read the whole thing, kudos to you. Thanks a bunch.

Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought~

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview**

_**"Giving in like that just isn't like her."**_

_'Hibari has such nice posture.'_

**_"I don't hate you."_**


	19. A Star

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Thanks to** fuwacchi**, **Kichou**, **okiyama**, **The Last Page**, **hiyomi**, **MikaUchiha666**, **Chocolate Ribbons**, **stuffedninja101**, **Hidden Gates**, **xenocanaan**, **Conanfan15**, **haurie**,** D**, **Kurowriter1122**, **Devry**, **Psychotic Tendency**, **Rei**, **higasm**, **Sweet18Candy**,** ausumist** and **nothing new in this world** for reviewing. I think I've said this several times already, but you guys are amazing. (:

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading.

Warning: Inexplicit nudity? Not really LOL, but just in case. XD

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 19: A Star**

"Here ya are!" Tsuyoshi boomed out as he placed the dish of fatty tuna sushi on the table. He put his hands to his hips as he grinned at his two customers expectantly. What did they think of it? The baby with the adorable little black hat on his head was a regular at his restaurant but the woman... Tsuyoshi guessed she was new to town since he had never seen her before. She was quite pretty, excluding the faint white mark of a scar that ran across her jaw line. If her dark hair wasn't as short as his Yamamoto's, the restaurant owner could honestly say she would look prettier than she was now.

Tsuyoshi grinned at the baby, who was smiling around the sushi he was currently eating. He held his breath as the woman put the piece in her mouth. He was always like this when a new customer came to his restaurant; always concerned they wouldn't like his sushi. It was pretty silly, he knew, but he couldn't help but see the customer's expression when they took their first bite into the sushi.

The woman's eyes lit up as she chewed on the raw fish.

"Wow, wow!" She grabbed another sushi from the plate and popped it into her mouth. "This is really great! Genius!"

Tsuyoshi let out the breath he was holding and rubbed the back of his head bashfully. Genius? He had never been called a genius before.

"Why, thank you," he said enthusiastically as she began engulfing the rest of the sushi on the plate. Tsuyoshi didn't realize the little baby had been on the phone until he heard the little beep of the call ending.

"Akane..." the infant's squeaky voice said. His tone sounded perturbed serious.

"That was Dino... She just tried to-"

The woman, Akane, interrupted the baby. She swallowed the sushi in her mouth.

"Yeah," she said. "I know." She rested a cheek on her hand and sighed.

"The Shiris and what just happened..." Reborn remarked quietly. He made the connection.

"A side effect of the experiments?"

Akane's eyes were downcast. Tsuyoshi raised an eyebrow. What was with the somber atmosphere now? His eyes widened. Could it have been his sushi? Experiments? Were they talking about some kind of science experiment?

The man was no longer paying attention to the conversation in front of him between Reborn and Akane, and chose to fret about the quality of his sushi. The magic of sushi -Bringing happiness to others- had failed!

Tsuyoshi walked off, grumbling to himself about new ways to make his sushi better.

"She's a strong girl," was the woman's answer. "Giving in to urges like that..." Akane grinned.

"That just ain't like Masami, right?"

* * *

_Her body dully ached: the particular painful ache in her side an effect of a surgery from yesterday. Or was it the day before? She couldn't remember. She'd gone under the knife so many times that each particular one was hard to remember. They were all a blur, like smears of gray paint on a blank canvas. _

_They restrained her to the metal slab and she blinked._

_Oh yeah. There was one. A memory that stuck out. She recalled it because of the reminder in the form of a large surgical scar on her stomach. It was the surgery that was making her brown eyes and hair a lighter shade. She didn't know what colour though. It looked sort of like a light copper to her right now. _

Pain... _It was also the reason why she had been in incredible pain for a month, like a burning feeling coursing through her veins and burning her from the inside. _

_It was also the reason why the adults in white coats had taken such an interest in her when they realized she was holding up from the pain and not dying._

_It was also the reason why the kids who had undergone the same thing with her had all died, their hairs and eyes turned blue or a dark purple or a dark green or-_

_A deep voice dispelled her thoughts. _

_She blinked. And then she realized she was on a metal table again. Wasn't she on one yesterday? Or was it the day before? _

_**She couldn't remember.**  
_

_"Subject Mana will be undergoing the new project," the voice announced to his counterparts who were also in the operating room. Someone put a mask on her mouth_ -the one that made her sleepy-_ and she felt rubber gloves brushing against her skin as they adjusted the clear apparatus.  
_

_"Out of all the subjects, Mana was, not only the sole child who lived, but has also been able to wield her storm flames with minor obstacles." _

_Claps resounded, bouncing off the sterile metal walls.  
_

_The familiar sweet smelling gas invaded her nose. She tasted the sweetness in the back of her throat. It stung. She felt like throwing up.  
_

_That's right... She remembered the first time... It was after the pain had finally subsided and a little later the ones in lab coats had somehow made red fire -a small little thing, really- come out of her hand like magic. They were so impressed with something so unimpressive too. It had had a tingling feeling to it when she first time she did it. _

_The first time she did it, her fingers had bled too and it felt like she was burning from the inside out.  
_

_She felt the gas doing its job and couldn't think properly anymore. Only hear.  
_

_"Insertion and alteration to the hormones and enzymes!" the voice boasted excitedly to his colleagues. _

_"If it's a success, her combat skills will increase and those pesky emotions of hers will go away!"_

_Masami closed her eyes and drifted away._

_"The beginning of the rise in power of the Shiri family!"_

* * *

Masami found Hibari leaning against a boulder by a waterfall. The frown on her face deepened the closer she came. The crash of the water was annoyingly loud. Why had he picked such a noisy place to rest? She made her way silently to his side, moving against the length of the boulder until she was barely a foot away from him.

She wondered if _that _would work.

"BOO!" Masami cried out, hands in the air and grinning but it soon disappeared when she saw Hibari wasn't jumping out of his skin from the fright he was supposed to have got.

Spoilsport.

Hibari's eyes opened slowly before narrowing slightly at Masami. His mouth moved to say something. Masami squinted before cupping one of her ears so that she could hear him better. The background sounds of the waterfall rushing towards and crashing against the large expanse of water was drowning out his voice.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" she yelled out to him. He was barely a foot away and so she couldn't blame Hibari when she saw him frown and then grit his teeth just before he grabbed her wrist and pulled. Not expecting it, Masami stumbled towards him. She caught herself just in time to avoid fully slamming into him by her free hand on the boulder. It held her barely an inch away from running into him.

That. Was close.

_What is his problem!_ Masami moved to look up and shout at Hibari. She suddenly stiffened as he leaned in.

"Why are you here?" he whispered into her ear. His breath tickled her skin. Masami looked down immediately to avoid looking at Hibari's face.

"...I'm here for the sake of being here. What's wrong with that?" Masami sniffed defensively. She tugged at her wrist, which was still being held in a vice grip.

"Let go." She caught the stubborn expression on his face and realized he thought she was ordering him.

"Let go, _please_."

Hibari's grip tightened on her wrist momentarily before letting go.

_Damn it._ Masami rubbed her sore wrist as he moved past her. _It's bruised now._

Stilling rubbing, Masami watched with slight contempt as Hibari made his way to stand at the edge of the water. She frowned. He was being very... what was the word to describe his actions? Or lack of thereof? He hadn't acted aggressively towards her, excluding the sparring, since they came here. She raised an eyebrow. He was being colder to her than usual. It was a stark contrast to how he'd been just two days ago in the bed-

Masami blushed scarlet red.

_Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it,_ she kept repeating to herself. Ugh, Never mind his strange attitude. It was a vast improvement from how he had been acting like two days ago, definitely.

Masami gazed at his back.

_...Hibari has good posture..._ His back was ramrod straight as he looked ahead at the water before him. She tilted her head. Was it just her or did he look a bit... peculiar? He was standing a little stiffer than usual that it looked awkward to her. She couldn't put her finger on why that was bothering her though.

_What is it..._ Masami squinted. The only reason she could up with as to why he was like that was-

Her eyes widened.

It couldn't be...

Masami bit her lip. She marched up to Hibari. She was slightly surprised he didn't notice. She was being pretty loud.

Was _it _really that bad?

Shutting her eyes, Masami bravely pushed both her hands on his back.

She gasped in surprise when she heard Hibari growl followed closely by him capturing both her wrists in a vice-grip. Big doe eyes stared into glaring obsidian. Light pink eyes blinked slowly.

"You're... hurt..." Masami stated slowly. His back must have been injured when she had thrown him. Her brows furrowed with worry as he let go of her wrists. She ignored the throbbing from the amount of pressure he had applied.

Masami's eye twitched. Hibari had turned away. He was ignoring her again. Of all the obnoxious-!

"Hibari!" Masami took a step forward. That was as far as she got.

"Come any closer and I'll bite you to death, herbivore," Hibari said as she was in mid-step.

_Scary... _Masami winced as she accidentally stepped on her own foot. She promptly took a step back. She_ did not_ want to be bitten to death.

Masami pursed her lips. The appropriate solution to his stubbornness would be...

_Hmm... _Masami's eyes slowly lit up as something came to mind. Pivoting on her foot, she proceeded to smirk at Hibari's profile.

"Oh, I see. You're sore about being defeated by me. Well, I guess I can kind of symphathize," Her smirk turned into a proud grin. "I'm even surprised someone like me managed to pulverize you so-ACK!"

...

...Hibari smirked as she came up from the water, gasping loudly for air and hand against her mouth as she coughed. She turned to him, glaring fiercely at him with one eye as she continued coughing.

She looked like a drowned cat.

"S-seriously!" She coughed again. "What is your problem! I can't swim. What if I had drowned!"

Hibari frowned. She _wouldn't_ have drowned since he had made sure the water was shallow before throwing her in. He could see that she could stand comfortably in it, having the water's depth only reach where her belly button was.

...And the_ reason_ he knew where her navel was because the silly, short dress she was wearing was see-through. The girl didn't seem to notice at all as she grumbled wrung the water out of her hair, which flopped pathetically and clung to her wet shoulders. And it annoyed him to no end, knowing she was this defenseless and unconscious about her own being.

What if this situation had happened in the presence of another person? Another person of the opposite gender?

"...You can't swim?" Hibari asked instead, raising an eyebrow.

This was when she blushed that familiar scarlet red and turned away from him as she always did.

"I know! It's pretty pathetic!" She scowled at him. "I never got around to learning it, okay?"

"..."

"And stop looking at me like I'm an idiot!" She was still grumbling as she waded towards him. He noted that her movements were slow and awkward; unlike how fluid she had moved when fighting with him.

"You're really hateful, Hibari..." she muttered under her breath as she hefted herself up from the water. He ignored how he could see the outline of her plain white bra through the thin material of the dress. Hibari frowned and grabbed both of her arms and lifted her up easily so that she was standing securely on land. One of her shoes were still on her foot, the other one held by her slender finger. She blinked up at him, eyelashes dotted with water.

She looked uneasy. "What is it? Is there something on my face? You're looking at me weirdly..."

"..." Hibari wound a strand of her long hair around his fingers. She looked up at him questionably. The confused expression turned to a grimace when he suddenly pulled and she awkwardly stumbled towards him to alleviate the discomfort. He leaned down.

"Does that mean you hate me?" he demanded softly. He smirked when she felt him shudder. She was still panting loudly from the strain of almost drowning. Hibari frowned when he saw her shivering. Had the water been that cold?

"I don't hate you." She finally looked up at him and looked almost sad. Hibari let go of her arms. His brows furrowed at the expression on her face.

"I... don't hate you," she repeated resolutely, staring up at him with bright eyes.

...

They stood there staring at each other before Hibari's eyes drifted down. Masami raised an eyebrow and looked down as well...

...only to shriek in mortification when she finally realized the dress was now transparent. She immediately went down to crouch in a fetal position, hugging herself.

_Dammit, dammit! Of all the-_ Her eyes screwed shut. Why did all of these situations have to happen in Hibari's presence? Not that she wanted any of them to happen in anyone else's presence but still! This was completely embarrassing! How could she go back looking like _this_ in front of Dino and Romario?

Masami was still pondering on what to do when she felt something soft fall atop her head. Her eyes snapped open and she reached for what was making it dark.

Her eyes widened.

_Hibari's jacket?_ she thought as she held the silk-like black prefect jacket he always had on him. She looked up to see Hibari already walking away.

"H-hey! Wait, Hibari!"

Hibari, as expected, ignored her and continued at his brisk pace. Masami's mouth was open in a small 'o'. He had given her his jacket... His treasured jacket that seemed to rarely be off his shoulders...

She smiled lightly before wrapping the jacket around her.

It... smelled like him.

...

Hibari heard her running from behind. She slowed down when she was three feet away from him and walking beside him.

_"I don't hate you."_

Hibari's eyes shut and he sighed.

* * *

"Masami-chan!" Dino looked shocked as he stared at the drowned-looking and shivering Masami. He blinked incredulously as he saw she was wearing _Hibari's_ prefect jacket. Dino swiveled around to see the nonchalant Hibari leaning against a tree.

Ok.

What _exactly _happened?

Masami seemed to catch his bewildered expression because she answered.

"I was thrown into water by Hibari," she bit out as she shivered.

"Wha...?" Dino blinked. And then blinked again. Then why did Masami look so strangely happy? There wasn't a smile on her face, but he could clearly see that she wasn't angry, but looked more... pleased.

Dino eyed Masami. His expression softened. She didn't notice him looking to her from the corner of his eye. She had buried her nose into the jacket collar, her eyes shut lightly and he imagined a smile on her mouth.

...

_Holy crap, this girl is...-_

Dino hit himself on the head to bring him back to his senses and managed to accidentally hit his eye.

"Ow!" Dino rubbed woefully at his eye. _Ok, Dino. Ok. Training. _

He crossed his arms. "Guys." The pair looked to him. "We're returning to Namimori in two days. Let's do our best to get as strong as we can!"

Hibari yawned while Masami responded with a sneeze.

"Yeah..." The girl looked absolutely miserable as she sniffled.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you to **Hidden Gates **and **Sweet18Candy **for drawing fanart. (: It would be awesome if you guys checked it out. The links are up on my profile page. This story's second genre is officially Drama, much to my despair. It just ended up like this LOL. Drama isn't my most favourite genre. Yes, I am a total hypocrite, but hopefully it'll be the kind of Romance/Drama fic that people will want to read, haha. XD

Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought.

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview**

**_"Let's makes you strong."_**

_"We'll capture her. Mark my words."_

**_'Unbelievable...! He just groped my butt!'_**

_"A while isn't a long time, Mana~"_


	20. Chain

**A/N:** Thank you to Kichou, higasm, Senna-X, ausumist, IceRose84528, stevie96, 21o(.)Amia(.)086, hiyomi, Conanfan15, 10th Squard 3rd Seat (twice~), MikaUchiha666, Akuma no Tenshi 666 (Asdf! Nine!), Chocolate Ribbons, leogirl321, fuwacchi and Namikaze Hatake (twice~). Sorry for the wait.

Thank you to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 20: Chain**

Akane had checked back every single day since the bomb incident. Looking for any suspicious people that were lurking around the buildin

It'd been obviously the Shiris trying to do... something with Masami. She had no idea what. The bomb had been meant to kill, that was for sure. But that didn't make any sense. The Shiris had been weakened greatly when the Vongola had raided their main base. They'd been caught severely off guard. In a panic, they had killed everyone involved and destroyed all their research. What was most likely the reason was that they hadn't wanted their work to be used by others, by the Vongola. And so they hadn't gotten rid of everything they could in their panic. This included everything in the main base as well as in the smaller bases.

They were left with nothing in the aftermath.

_Which is why it doesn't make sense to kill Mana, _Akane thought mildly as she raised a hand to the forehead of one of the men who had been slinking outside the apartment for a few nights now.

"Why are you trying to kill Mana?" she chirped out to the Shiri member. Masami was the only living experiment alive and Akane would have thought they desperately needed her, to start their research with something. Anything.

The man laughed and blood poured out his mouth like a waterfall. He was dying. He knew that. He eyed his comrades behind the smiling woman. They were dead in their own pool of blood, a gunshot through the heart and throat.

"To test her..." he wheezed out. "If she hadn't escaped and was killed, then that was that."

Akane's eyes narrowed. She clicked off the safety of the gun in her hand and rammed it against the male's forehead.

"I should probably tell you," she said happily. "That I was the one that threw her out the window." Now maybe they would give up.

She could only wish so.

It was a wish that didn't happen.

The male laughed again and didn't stop even with a gun against his forehead. What did it matter if she was going to kill him now or that he was going to die from the blood loss? It didn't matter anymore, so he laughed. And kept laughing, the wheezy sounds echoing through the night-lit streets like some kind of eerie music.

Akane remained unaffected by the fearless male. She waited patiently from him to stop and when he did, he was grinning up towards him.

"We saw her land safely from the fall. And that's good enough. Good enough for her not to be useless in what we plan to do with her..."

Akane frowned and her finger began to slowly push against the trigger.

"It's too late," the man hissed out. "We'll capture her and the Shiri family will be restored to its former glory!"

The gunshot resounded through the quiet empty streets. The man slumped against the wall he'd been sitting up against, his corpse dripping blood from his forehead, coating his face in a crimson red.

"Glorious..." Akane whispered, her green eyes shining clear in the moonlight while her face was splattered with blood.

"I don't think crib-robbers have a right to say that."

* * *

"...and yeah. Gokudera's battle will end in a few minutes. We'll make it there right after, don't worry," Dino explained.

Masami re-processed everything had told her. They hadn't missed all of the battles. There were still four out of the six to go. She gazed out at the car's window at the stars and dark expanse of the sky.

They had been roughing it in that forest for five days. It'd been a tiring experience to say the least. For one, she and Dino would switch roles as the sparring partner for Hibari. She pursed her lips as she stared into the darkness. The amount of stamina the guy had and his growth within the short period time made her wonder if he really was human. He _never _got tired, always wanted to fight and he kept...

_He keeps looking at me weirdly_, Masami thought drearily. Why was that...?

Her thoughts were put to a stop when she saw the far-off dot that was the town of Namimori coming into view.

_Yamamoto-kun's battle..._ Masami could feel a smile coming.

She wanted to see that.

* * *

"We have to park the car, so you and Kyoya can go ahead." Dino grinned at the girl in front of him.

Masami nodded. "Okay. I guess we'll go into the school then..." she trailed off and looked to Hibari, who was already stalking to the school entrance. Her gaze landed on the broken windows and she cringed. That was bad. Very, very bad. Whose bright idea was it to hold the ring battles at the school? She turned to Dino, unsure of what to do. She knew that as soon as Hibari found the culprits, which would include her friends, he would bite them to death. She wasn't sure if they'd be all right. Hibari had gotten much, much stronger than before. Sending them to the nurse's office and sending them to the hospital were completely different things.

Masami's mood soured at that thought. That hardly seemed fair. Why did he get so powerful, so fast? She'd gotten a power up from Rei and Akane teaching her, but it had taken years.

She... didn't count those years in the facility as training, but more so torture.

Masami jumped as she felt a hand clap on her shoulder.

"It's fine, it's fine! I'd like to ask for a favour though," Dino said. He leaned in slightly to whisper in Masami's ear. "Could you hold back Hibari while we park the car? I'm actually pretty worried, heh..."

It made sense he was worried. Hibari was already in the school, hunting for the people who damaged his school. But, more importantly...

"Dino-san... why do you think _I _can hold him down?" Masami wasn't sure if she could hold him down, even with her entire body. He was heavier than her, after all. Dino laughed, albeit a strained one.

"I think you would have a good chance of stopping him," he said vaguely. Masami frowned. Maybe before this week, she had a chance, but not now. She didn't think anymore. Dino saw the flat gaze he was pinned with and smiled. "Just do your best, all right? He may already be where Tsuna and the others are." Masami's eyes widened at the realization. "You better hurry if you want to catch up then."

Masami was sprinting off before Dino could get another word in.

* * *

_"...Stand up."_

_Masami spat out blood. The excess leaked out of the corner of her mouth and she wiped it away furiously, resolved not to show any weaknesses. Not in front of _him. _She stood up slowly, only to fall down like a calf on its first legs. Rei eyed her, amber orbs assessing the situation, before sighing and throwing away the old metal pipe he had casually picked an hour before. Masami flinched as he reached a hand toward her scratched up arm. He paused before grabbing onto her thin wrist and pulling her up so that she was standing up again. She didn't speak at all and that hurt him more than anything. He hadn't heard a word from her, not yet.  
_

_"I think that that's enough." Rei turned away, already prepared to drag her to the car. It was too soon, wasn't it? He had wanted her to be better prepared for what was to come, but maybe a year wasn't enough to recover from that place. _

_A hand grabbed onto his arm, short nails digging into the flesh. Rei turned slowly. Her mouth was set in a set line and eyes glared at him. He stared at her carefully and for a single moment..._

_...He thought of her mother._

_That moment took way too long and before Rei could process what was happening, he was pulling back as he felt a sharp pain. He looked, shocked, at his arm. There were little teeth marks in them. She had bitten him. _

_The gloominess around the tiny girl wasn't like her mother at all, but the fierceness definitely was._

_"Listen, you...!" he started only to stop. She was crouching, the dagger that he gave her in hand. _

..._Rei's eyes softened._

_It wasn't the purpose of defending himself that he picked up the rusty pipe. The girl bore no killing intent at all. _

_He picked up the rusty pipe again because of the determination in her eyes. He felt a smile on his face, a rarity for him. He liked the look in her eyes now: fierce and tenacious._

_"Let's make you strong..."_

* * *

It was easy enough finding them because of the noise from voices. Masami sprinted as fast as she could to the spot, careful in avoiding random debris and shards of glass on the ground. She frowned. What exactly did these battles entail anyway? There was one thing she was sure of now.

Hibari. Was. Pissed.

Masami's eyes widened as she spotted a figure. Hibari was ahead, about to turn the corner to the next hall, **right where the voices were coming from. **

...Shit.

"Hibari!" she called out. She could still stop him, she could still stop him!

He didn't answer and turned the corner.

Masami growled in frustration. Did he ignore her? She would like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but she saw the pause in his step. He _had _heard her and ignored her! Masami skidded on the soles of her sneakers as she stopped herself from slamming against the window. She was totally going to scream at him for-

What the hell?

Masami watched in amazement as _Yamamoto _executed some moves and _restrained _Hibari. They were talking now. She couldn't hear, but from the looks of it, nothing good was coming from their conversation. She grimaced. Hibari looked even angrier now. Masami's mouth became an 'o'. Yamamoto looked a little nervous now and barely managed to dodge Hibari's strike towards him. But still, even barely avoiding Hibari's attack was a feat in itself. What had Yamamoto done for _his _training?

Masami shook her head. She could ask him later.

_Gotta stop them, gotta stop them, gotta stop them..._

That was the only thing going through her head as she ran towards them. She could only think of one way to do so and that was by intercepting. Without a second thought, Masami threw herself at Yamamoto and, as expected, he hadn't predicted anyone _would _slam into him and fell with her in a mass of limbs.

_...Crap. That really hurt. _Her hands had landed on the ground. There was no glass, but she knew there would be a bruise on her palms in a few hours. Her pants had softened most of the blow, but her knees would be black and blue in a while too. Her eyes were screwed shut in pain.

"M-MASAMI-SAN?" she heard Tsuna screech out. "W-what are you doing!"

Masami shook her head, her eyes still closed.

"T-trying to stop them from fighting?" It seemed to be working. She didn't feel any tonfas hitting her skin. She exhaled slowly and finally opened her eyes. Where had Yamamoto gone-?

_Oh._

Yamamoto was right underneath her and looking very, very surprised. She raised an eyebrow at his bright red cheeks.

Lifting herself off him, she said, "Your face is really red, Yamamoto-kun..." She awkwardly laughed. What was with the silence? It was unnerving. "The strain of fighting with Hibari get to you, haha..."

Nobody said anything. Masami was about to do something drastic. An unlikely third party interrupted the stifling atmosphere.

"...All damages will be fixed and paid for by the Cervello organization," a female's voice piped up.

All the occupants in the hall turned and Masami followed their gaze to the person who had broken the silence. It was a masked woman.

Reborn walked up to the Cloud guardian, a smirk on his face.

"If you wait just a little longer, I can guarantee you'll be able to fight Rokudo Mukuro again."

_That _made Masami shiver involuntarily. _Rokudo Mukuro... _She certainly didn't want anymore memories of him again.

"Hn..." It was Hibari who had spoken. Masami's mouth dropped open as she stared at him, shocked. He had put back his weapons. _What?_ He... never would have backed down so easily. Wait, now that she thought of it, that kind of made sense. Hibari was an insanely prideful person. If she knew anything about him, Masami knew it could get really, really ugly if those two saw each other.

Masami continued to stare at him as he walked past her, giving her one passing glance before disappearing back to where they had both come from.

What exactly just happened? _He looked... _Masami frowned, unable to come up with a word for it.

She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"...Masami..."

The girl looked down to see Yamamoto shuffling under her, clearly uncomfortable. Her eyes widened. She_ still_ hadn't gotten off him, having been too preoccupied with her own thoughts..

"Damn..." Masami scrambled up and backed away a few feet to give Yamamoto some space. "Sorry..." Masami said as she continued to back away. She grimaced inwardly. She must have been heavy. Masami yelped as she felt herself tripping over a peculiar lump on the floor.

Then the _thing _grunted. Masami's eyes rounded as she looked down and saw a mess of familiar silver hair.

What. The. Hell?

"Gokudera..." Masami whispered. The only word that could describe how the boy looked right now was _mangled. _There were scratches all over his body, his clothes torn from some kind of sharp weapon. His hair was shadowing his eyes and there was a tight-lipped grimace on his face, but she could still tell he was unconscious. He would have shot up and shouted at her, regardless of how injured he was.

That's just how the guy was. Masami stiffened when she saw him slowly open his eyes. They weren't filled with anger, just pain. He managed a half-hearted growl.

"Stupid woman..." Gokudera growled out.

"Masami-san!" Tsuna was walking hurriedly towards her and Gokudera and looked concerned. She could see Yamamoto standing up and following him. She looked down at Gokudera.

"Why..." This was just as bad, no, _badder _than the injuries he had sustained at Kokuyo. Gokudera didn't answer. The haze of pain was too great.

Tsuna didn't make eye contact with her. His face was so distraught. She couldn't think of anything to say. What could she say? He didn't look as if he was on the verge of tears, but his expression was a mix between grief and worry.

Yamamoto put a hand on his shoulder. "Tsuna."

"I... We..." Tsuna's fists clenched. "Everyone's getting hurt and it's all because of..."

The rush of footsteps interrupted the Vongola.

"Did we make it!"

Everyone in the hall turned to see Dino, with Romario right behind, at the end of the hall where Masami had come from and Hibari had left from.

Reborn chose this time to speak. The Bucking Horse looked as if he was going to get obnoxious _real _fast.

"He left about five minutes ago."

"What? Really?" Dino cried out. At Reborn's nod, he groaned and ran a hand through his hair wearily. "Damn..." he sighed. "All right..."

"Dino-san..." Tsuna said. "Why are you here?" He shook his head furiously. "No! More importantly, where have Masami-san and Hibari-san been at? They haven't been at school for days."

Dino gave him a small smile.

"We were training and were detained for a few days. We were supposed to come back earlier today actually."

Masami looked away sheepishly. She had slept in and none of them had woken her up.

"VOIII!"

Everyone jumped at the deafening yell. Masami turned.

It was a man with unusual-coloured hair. Not as weird as hers, but you didn't see much people with long white hair that weren't above 70.

"Who are..." Masami started. The man ignored her and walked past her. She bit the inside of her cheek. _Rude..._

The man stopped until he was right in front of Yamamoto.

"You have some pretty good moves, kid," the man said, grinning. He pointed a sword, a sword that was in place of his _right _hand. Yamamoto didn't flinch from the careless waving the white-haired man was doing. What shocked them more was that Yamamoto was **frowning. **

Masami and Tsuna shared open-mouthed stares.

"But you know what?" the man asked. pointedly ignoring the frowning and glaring from the boy.

"You still have no chance of winning," he snarled.

Yamamoto's eyes closed for a brief moment before opening to show cool anger in them. Masami found that understandable if your friend had been hurt and someone was purposely antagonizing you, but this was...

_This was Yamamoto-kun! _Yamamoto who was known to be cheerful at the best (and worst) times.

The tension between the two was palpable. Tsuna looked unsure whether to step in between the two swordsmen and Masami could see that everything was taking a wrong turn for the worst. Masami held her breath.

The long-haired swordsman finally stepped back, still grinning.

"Until tomorrow," he declared. "That's when you'll see the end, katana brat!" Without another word, he jumped out of the window after his comrades.

"Oh my god!" Masami heard Tsuna yell behind her. "Gokudera-kun!"

"Huh..." her voice trailed off when she saw Gokudera. This time, he really had fainted. Her brows furrowed with worry. Tsuna looked frantic. His head swerved to face her direction. Masami blinked. _Eh? _Why was he staring at her like that?

"Shamal! Help, please!" he begged at the exact same time Masami felt _something _grope her butt. Her eyes widened with shock and instinct took over from there. Masami promptly proceeded to turn around and punch the mysterious perverted bastard _hard_. Her eye twitched. It was Shamal. She wasn't too surprised about that. The punch hadn't been satisfying at all, even when she saw the red spot on his cheek. The perverted grin on his face didn't help matters.

"Ehe, Masami-chaan, hii..." Shamal drawled out. Her eye twitched again. What happened to the,_ 'I would never act perverted with you'_ thing? He had just groped her butt! Masami could feel her face reddening with anger.

Shamal only looked more turned on.

_Why, that little...! _Masami was about ready to kick the bastard's ass when Dino spoke.

"Ehe..." Dino smiled. He saw what had happened and he also knew the consequences of pissing the pink-haired girl off. "Romario will treat him, Tsuna! Shamal doesn't try anything but women anyway..."

"Unless..." Shamal interrupted, still leering at a furious Masami. "...A pretty young lady promises me a kiss on the cheek..."

Masami actually paused to think about that. She knew that Shamal was an excellent, if not perverted, doctor. _Gokudera... is badly hurt..._ If she could do anything, it would be to at least persuade Shamal.

It wasn't as if he was demanding anything outrage-

"...And let me touch your boobs a couple of times..." the doctor finished.

Everyone collectively flinched when Masami aimed her foot into Shamal's face and knocked him out.

* * *

Akane whistled a tune as she waited outside the gates of the large Japanese-style home. It was the opening song to one of her favourite dramas. She hadn't been able to watch it or anything at all for the matter because of work and taking care of a certain brat, but she still remembered the entire song by heart.

Her eyes trailed to beyond the gates. She could see no lights, but it was still too early for either Hibari or Masami to fall asleep. Akane had contemplated breaking into the house, but dismissed the thought. She was too tired to needlessly piss Hibari off and dodge his attacks. It had taken such an obnoxiously long time to track those Shiri family members that she was completely tuckered out. Akane sighed. She still needed to warn the brat though.

It was precisely after that thought that Akane felt a familiar murderous aura behind her. She smiled happily. Finally, she could stop waiting. She wanted to get back to her hotel and sleep for the whole night and maybe some of the afternoon.

"Hibari-kun, Mana..." Akane's mood soured when she saw the teenage male, but not Masami. She forced the smile to stay on her face because acting moody in front of a moody teenage bastard would certainly provoke said bastard.

"Oh, Hibari-kun..." She tilted her head. "It's just you..." He must have caught the disappointment in her voice, but wasn't paying attention to that. She followed the path of his disgusted stare to the thin jacket that she was cradling in her arms like a baby. It had some distinctive blood spots on it.

"Initiating and participating in fights is against the rules, herbivore." Hibari's eyes narrowed and he was sporting quite the dangerous expression. If Akane didn't know him better, she would have honestly declared he was agitated. But he was _always _agitated, so she ignored that.

"Well, you see..." Akane didn't like how he just assumed _she _was the one who started the fight. _Hm, well... _She put a finger to her chin. Now that she thought of it, she did start the fight, but it was all in her ward's best interests, really.

"...There were scary people after Mana, so I went to go punish them." Akane didn't miss how Hibari stiffened slightly.

"...Who?"

Akane's eyes softened.

"I think you should ask Mana yourself, Hibari-kun."

Akane barely dodged the tonfa. It grazed against the bare skin of her arm and she hissed at the friction. She was slammed against the wall by the other tonfa pressing hard against her neck.

"Who?" Hibari repeated, voice low. Akane barely resisted the urge to shiver. She had to admit the kid was pretty scary when angry. She hadn't seen him for about a week and she could tell he was stronger. He wasn't strong enough to beat her, but he could give her a bit of trouble in a fight.

_Haha... kind of... bad..._

_Shit, Mana... _Akane thought as she pushed her hand against the tonfa to release some pressure. She was way too tired to be dealing with this. _You really managed to catch a dangerous and possessive one here... _

Akane ignored the pang of jealously that coursed through her veins and opted to aim a kick at Hibari's stomach. He dodged and stepped back, still glaring at her. She rolled her shoulders back calmly and was satisfied to hear the crack of her worn joints.

"She'd probably get upset..." _Or pissed. _"She doesn't like involving people in her problems if she can help it," Akane chirped.

This one thing -this one single thing- of Mana was what Akane wanted to respect.

Akane smiled widely as Hibari slipped his tonfas into his sleeves. He still looked irritated, but less so. She took pity on the boy.

"If it's any consolation, that particular trio won't be bothering us anymore."

_Or anyone, for that matter._

* * *

"Haha, it's really no problem," Yamamoto assured Masami when she mumbled a 'sorry' for having to walk her back to Hibari's house. "It's dangerous for a girl to walk alone at night anyway."

Masami blanched at his statement and puffed up her chest, an action that Yamamoto chose not to address as they walked past another streetlight.

"I can take care of myself, Yamamoto-kun," she declared. "Any Namimori thugs are nothing." Yamamoto grinned and laughed again.

"I know, I know," he said. "Maybe, I just want to walk with you then, Masami," he amended.

Masami blinked. She liked it too. Walking and talking with him was nice. Her eyes widened as she remembered something.

"Oh, yeah!" Masami cried out. "Your battle's tomorrow, right?" At his nod, she grinned and put out her hand. Yamamoto took it with a laugh.

"I'll be there to cheer you on."

* * *

Masami waved a goodbye to Yamamoto. There was only about a block left from where they were to Hibari's house. She knew that, for whatever reason, Yamamoto and Hibari didn't get along particularly well. It took some heavy persuading, but Yamamoto finally relented to her walking the rest of the way. She pursed her lips as she remembered his offer barely a minute ago, that she could stay at his house whenever she wanted to. He was a good guy.

Masami clutched her head as she walked down the block. A migraine was coming on. Another one.

_It must be from how tired I am... _She'd been feeling very weary all the time now. Masami frowned. It was probably because she had been fighting Hibari day in and day out. It wasn't as if she hated helping out, but did he have to be so rough?

If Masami didn't know Hibari better, she would have sworn that he was trying to drive something home for her and right into her head.

"Most of the time, he's always violent, so that can't be," she grumbled under her breath. She would be more worried if he started smiling all the time.

Masami's mind conjured up Hibari smiling. She shivered.

"Weird." She'd seen him smile a few times, but not a genuine smile. She wondered what he would look like if-

"OH MAH GAWD... You're finally heree!"

Masami's eye twitched as she felt Akane drop down on her. She kept her up fairly easily, but that wasn't the point! The point was that Akane had dropped down on her from the shadows and that she looked exhausted and...

"Is that blood?" Masami yelled when she saw a spot of red on Akane's clothes. Was the woman hurt? Is that why she looked so dead?

Akane nodded. "I'm sooo tired..." She sighed and with much reluctance, stood on her own two feet to lean against the wall. "It's not mine though," the woman said, eying Masami. She shook her head when Masami's worry turned to relief.

"A bunch of Shiri members were in town today, skulking around your apartment."

_...What? _

There was a pause that turned into a long silence. Akane didn't speak as she stared at the stunned girl.

_...Why...? _

Masami's mouth was in a tight line. She didn't want to go back, she didn't want it. The needles, the sickly sterile smell, the screams of children that went through that door-

_I'm... scared. I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared-_

"Mana!"

Masami turned to her guardian, eyes shining with fear.

"Pathetic..." Akane's eyes reflected annoyance. The girl was much too pale and don't think she didn't catch how Masami's hands were shaking. The woman put her hands close to both Masami's cheeks. Before the pink-haired girl could question what Akane was doing, she was promptly slapped by both hands on both her cheeks.

Masami yelped. "Akane-san!"

"Out of whatever funk you're in now, Mana?" Akane absentmindedly asked. Much to Masami's displeasure, she started to pinch her stinging cheeks between her fingers.

"Schtop, Arkane-shaan..." Masami winced as she let go with one final tug. The girl rubbed her aching cheeks slowly.

"Why did you do that...?"

Akane stared at the girl plainly before patting her ward's head. It may have been counted as comforting if not for the force between it. Masami was seriously suspecting Akane was enjoying seeing her in pain from the forceful pats. She finally stopped, resting her hand on Masami's hand. Masami sighed in relief...

...until the woman began shaking her head back and forth.

"Mah-naa, I-think-that-we-should-go..." Akane wheedled out, punctuating each word with a rough shake.

Masami opened her mouth to say something, _anything, _but the words were lodged in her throat. She only managed to shake her head vehemently. Akane's eyes narrowed.

"Why not?" Akane brought a hand to her mouth to snicker when she saw Masami frowning.

"Don't tell me..." The woman laughed at how pitiful the whole situation was. _Really, Mana is so..._

"...You don't want to leave them."

Masami's frown deepened. The pink-haired girl's head was throbbing from a full-blown migraine, but she had to finish.

"Why would I?" she shouted. Akane looked shocked by the outburst. "They're my friends and we've had such fun times together! They..." she trailed off, but the unspoken words hung in the air.

_They so readily accepted me..._

"..." Akane sighed. "Fine. We'll stay here for a while longer." She saw how Masami's face lit up and felt aggravated.

"But!" she continued. "A **while** is not a long time, Mana."

Masami's expression broke out into a grin.

"Thank you..."

"Tch." Akane turned away and stomped off, unable to stand how _sickeningly _sweet that smile was.

* * *

A/N: I really didn't like this chapter. I'm sorry about the quality. Sorry there wasn't much HibariXMasami interaction too. There probably won't be much for about two more chapters. That's when I'll be wrapping up the Varia Arc and moving onto the Future Arc. **Reviews really do fuel my writing, so please take some time to tell me what you thought of the chapter. (:**

Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview:**

_"Masami-san... why did you knock out Gokudera?"_

**_"Fucking impressive..."  
"Of course. Yamamoto is a natural born hitman, after all."_**

_"Um. Yamamoto-kun... Could you get off me?"_**_  
_**


	21. Insight

**A/N:** Thank you to MikaUchiha666, DarkRoadHina, hiyomi, 10th Squard 3rd Seat, Kichou, Akuma no Tenishi 666, Conanfan15, Chocolate Ribbons, 21o(.)Amia(.)o86, fuwacchi, Silver Akuma Kitsune, hauarie and MiyukiNishio for reviewing. :D

This chapter hasn't been beta-ed yet, so feel free to point out any mistakes. I'm sure there will be quite a few. ):

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 21: Insight**

Masami would have passed right by Hibari's room to her own room for the night with little consequence. That was, if not for her remembering thelook he gave her when he passed by her back in Namimori.

..._Umm._

"Why am I doing this?" Masami hissed to herself. Okay, well, she already knew why, but it wasn't preventing her feet from moving her towards Hibari's door! In no time flat, she was in front of his room.

She simply wanted to know why he had been mad. Was it because she made him stop fighting? That was the only thing that she could think of that made sense. Masami pursed her lips. There was a "tiny" hole in her theory though.

_Reborn _was the one who really stopped Hibari from fighting.

And before she knew it, she was already knocking on the door.

Masami paled.

"Oh... crap." Why'd she do that? Her eyes screwed shut and her hand made to tighten around the knob. Since she already had one foot through the door of "irritating the hell out of Hibari", there was no time like the present to finish the process.

The reaction was immediate. Masami didn't have any time to even cry out in surprise before she was slammed against the frame of the door by a tonfa pressing against her front. The wind was knocked out of her. She gulped in air as she recovered.

Hibari completely ignored the girl's wheezing. "Don't barge in my room," he deadpanned.

"Don't you think your reaction's a bit too excessive..." Masami managed to hiss out. She pushed against the tonfa to try to relieve some of the pressure, but the damn thing just wouldn't budge.

"..." Hibari's answer was to press the tonfa harder. She gasped and bit her lip. She wasn't sure if this was just Hibari being Hibari or if he was mad. He was always so hard to read.

...Oh, so he wanted to play hardball, did he? She frowned. Jet lag had a way of making people feel a _tiny _bit irked at the slightest thing a usual prick did in his usual dumb prickiness.

"Ehe..." Masami smiled sweetly at him. "Could you _please_ get your **_goddamn_** tonfa off my person?"

She followed up by attempting to slam her knee between Hibari's legs.

The keyword was attempt.

In the millisecond she had her knee up was when Hibari decided that he did not want to be kneed and promptly tripped her with a simple swipe of his leg.

"Oh sh-" was all Masami could get out before she landed, face first, on the hardwood floor.

She let out a low, "Oww..." Her cheek stung now... She had no time to get up before a shadow loomed over her. Its slightly menacing quality was heightened by the fact that it was blocking the low light of the night lamp by Hibari's bed. Masami's eyes darted to Hibari.

_Ugh... is he going to say something like, 'You're such a weakling' or something? _Masami sighed and prepared herself for the tongue lashing.

"You may not be a part of the committee anymore, but..." Hibari's eyes narrowed.

"Don't curse in the presence of the head prefect."

_..._

"...Wha?" was Masami's clever reply as she sat up slowly. She was hesitant to relinquish her position with her cheek against the nice, cool floor, but dammit, she needed to, _at least_, be sitting to talk to him properly!

Masami's eyes narrowed.

"You..." He had already made his way back to the bed and she took the chance to stand up fully.

"You seemed angry." Masami floundered at her tactless statement. "I mean! Not that you aren't always angry, but I mean you seemed more angrier than usual and that animosity seemed to be directed towards me, which is kind of normal, but **not** at the same time since I don't think I did anything to piss you off-"

"You did." Hibari's brows furrowed at her choice of words, but he continued. "It's over now, herbivore."

Masami stopped floundering to stare at him.

"What do you mean I _did_ piss you off? What do you mean 'it's over'?" She put her hands on her hips. She scowled. "It can't be over. What if you decide to secretly hold a grudge against me because of this one incident and decide to begin hoarding all the times I pissed you off until it becomes so huge that you explode?" She, personally, would not like to see Hibari snap. It was scary enough being around him when it was just his usual love for fighting. Masami shuddered.

She forged on.

"I mean, I always tell you when I'm **really **annoyed with you, so you should follow my example and totally tell me-eek!"

If looks could kill, Masami swore she would be dead **two **times over by now.

Masami blinked in confusion when she saw Hibari sneer.

"Unlike a weakling like you, I don't cling to insignificant past events," he said scathingly.

Hibari was scrutinizing her, maybe watching for her to snap or screech at him.

Masami did neither.

"...Yeah." She forced a smile on her face. His eyes widened minutely.

"I guess I do."

Masami began to back out slowly out of the room, still grinning like a fool. She grabbed hold of the knob.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now." She shrugged her shoulders. "Glad to know you aren't mad at me anymore."

Ah, she needed to get out of here now. Being with him in here was too... too...

..._suffocating._

"I'll be going to bed now." Masami practically wrenched the door of its hinges as she swung it open.

"Haha... well... bye!"

Masami managed to close the door just in time to hide the first tear that slipped out.

She wiped it away hurriedly before making her way to her room like a silent spectre.

* * *

_"Onee-chan is really amazing."_

_Brown-becoming-pink eyes turned to look at the grinning child sitting across from her. She blinked. Her throat hurt from not speaking for weeks and the little boy seemed to understand that. _

_He slowly slid off the bed and padded across her, bare feet making the slightest of noises. He plopped down right beside her, a grin too wide for his small face still plastered on his features. He held her hand lightly, perhaps just seeking for any kind of warmth.  
_

_"Because..." He looked away bashfully. "You are still here; still alive from that big experiment." Her heart clenched. She secretly wondered to herself how he could smile like that, when so many kids have died. _

_She already knew the answer, but it still didn't satisfy the guilt swirling inside of her._

_Being in the facility -this place- for years tended to warp the mindset of children, making them revere those who survived. Pity for those that died was unheard of. The reason being because so many _-too many- _died in this place to feel sad for.  
_

_"Amazing..." she croaked slowly. It wasn't that amazing. It was just that her body had been compatible for the amplification of the natural storm flames within her._

_She stiffened as she heard the voice of one of _those _people at the doorway, calling for the boy. _

_His name was... Yuki... _

_She closed her eyes for a moment, committing name and face to memory. She felt the smaller boy's hand squeeze her own tightly for a moment, just a brief moment, before relaxing. _

_He let go of her hand._

_She watched as he padded over to the door. She squinted because of the bright light pouring into the dark room. _

She had just been lucky, not amazing.

_He- Yuki turned one last time. He gave her a thumbs-up and a big grin._

She wasn't amazing at all.

_He didn't come back._

* * *

Hibari didn't understand. She just couldn't not remember stuff that happened in the past.

Masami put her palms to her eyes.

It would be too unfair to the people in her life that wouldn't be remembered by anyone else.

* * *

Masami had avoided Hibari in school all of the day. It wasn't a difficult task seeing as how he was either on the roof or in the Reception Room while school was in session. She blatantly ignored the announcement for her to go to the Reception Room too. The strangest thing was that he didn't chase her down. She contemplated if he was feeling _guilty _about what he said, hence why he wasn't chasing her down, before loudly laughing it off.

Yeah. Right. Like Hibari Kyoya would get guilty for _anyone_.

By the time Yamamoto's battle rolled around, she was still tuckered out. Jet lag was still affecting her internal clock. She knew it would adjust sooner or later, but would it kill it to adjust a little sooner rather than later? She had fallen asleep and had almost missed the battle.

Currently, Masami wasn't in the best mood since she had had to sprint all the way to the school. That, and she wasn't all that good with sprinting for long distances anyway. She was kind of grumpy and even more tired by the time she _barely _got there. The gates had been close to shutting by the time she came.

Gokudera was _not _helping matters.

His eyes narrowed. "You look... different..." Now that he was fully awake and in relatively better shape, he could take in her appearance.

She looked so damn girly that it was _vomit-inducing._

Masami shot him a glare while panting furiously. "No kidding."

"Why you little...!"

She turned around before he could finish his insult. Her eyes were completely on the screen. Since she was almost late for the battle, Masami didn't have any time to speak to Yamamoto at all. Guilt.

Gokudera didn't help make her feel better.

Gokudera snorted. "...You look weird," he said, amending his previous statement.

She glared. Grumpiness derived from lack of sleep was rearing its ugly head again.

"So sorry, Gokudera-kun. Could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you cause your voice sounds too much like a feeble old man's who enjoys his cigarettes a little too much."

...Tsuna sweatdropped.

"You bitch!" He made a point to lunge for her at full speed.

"AGGH!" Masami yelled, surprised. She panicked and reacted violently by kneeing him in the stomach.

Tsuna's eyebrows shot up. "You guys...!" he groaned out. Why did something like this have to happen to him **_every _**single day?

"...Are you okay, Gokudera-kun?"

Gokudera sat up almost immediately. Masami stepped back, but then frowned when she noted the pained expression on his face.

"I'm fine, Juudaime!" Tsuna's mouth was in a tight line. He could also see that his friend was definitely not fine.

"Really, Gokudera-kun?" He knew Masami _had_ been the one to injure him, but... _you're the one that started it, Gokudera-kun... _Tsuna's eyes widened at the redness of his friend's clothes covering his stomach._  
_

Before Gokudera could reassure his beloved boss that he was perfectly all right (Just ignore him on the ground, cringing!), his head was pulled into a lap. Tsuna's jaw dropped while Gokudera sputtered indignantly. Reborn paid no attention to the three _idiots_ and diverted it to watching Yamamoto's match.

"W-wh-wha-what are you doing, woman!" Gokudera choked out, indignant.

"You're bleeding again." Masami pointed at the blood now soaking the boy's clothes. She smiled a bit tentatively. "S-sorry, Gokudera. I had forgotten."

Gokudera snorted. "So? You think that-"

"It's fine if you hate me then," she said quietly. Gokudera seemed a bit surprised, but became silent and stayed thoroughly disgruntled. Tsuna pursed his lips, worried. _Masami-san's acting weird..._ "Though it must hurt a lot."

"No, it doesn't-OWW! What. the. **hell**. _woman_!" Masami had prodded his stomach with her finger. Gokudera scowled. He hated her. He really did. Barging into the Juudaime's life like this and harassing him on a near daily basis. Making him and the Juudaime carry her when she fainted back in Kokuyo.

She made a clucking noise. "Mhm, suuure," she agreed skeptically, raising an eyebrow at Gokudera's reaction. The two boys shivered as her eyes glinted evilly suddenly. "...This won't hurt a bit..." she stated ominously.

Gokudera's eyes widened as her hand started to move. He slapped it away quickly. "What the fuck do you think you're-"

Tsuna shrieked in surprise as his friend was effectively silenced with a karate-chop to his forehead.

"Masami-san!" Gokudera had fainted from the strength of the attack, though he had the same uncomfortable expression on even with his eyes closed. "What are you doing!" Okay, Tsuna knew it was sort of Gokudera's fault _again _for antagonizing her, but still... he hadn't thought knocking him unconscious was the right reaction! He hardly thought kneeing him in the stomach was appropriate.

Masami looked up. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll forget who did it when he comes to..." She paused. "He didn't _see_ me hit him, right?"

Tsuna gaped. "T-that's not exactly the issue here, Masami-san!" He squinted. "Why did you knock him out anyway?"

"..." Masami's mouth turned into a small 'o'. "Why did I knock him out again?"

Tsuna's mouth practically unhinged.

"Y-you don't know why?" he screeched. He could see Masami visibly wince.

"Ah, well... I wanted to put him out of his... misery...?" she said slowly.

"Oh, so you're planning to kill him, right?" Reborn piped up. He had turned his attention away from the ongoing fight to the banter between Masami and Tsuna. The latter was way too entertaining to _not _watch. The two teens turned to the Arcobaleno.

"NO!" they both shouted at the same time.

"...Don't look now guys, but Gokudera-chan is coughing up blood," a new voice stated.

Well, of course when your friend was coughing up blood, you would look at said friend right away, regardless of whatever a mysterious voice told you. And that was what Masami and Tsuna did.

"Holy crap!" they both shouted at the same time again. Their eyes both widened when the Storm hacked up more blood. Reborn was fairly neutral about the whole affair and turned to welcome the newcomers. He nodded.

"Akane, Dino," he greeted as the pair walked towards them. The baby had known that Dino had gone somewhere on the grounds to check up on Hibari, most likely the roof. He shot an inquisitive look at Akane. She smirked.

"I followed in barely a minute after Masami came." The woman ignored Masami,_ "Really...?_" and continued. "Just was walking around a bit to... check around."

Reborn understood right away and nodded again. He turned to Dino.

"Well, is Hibari watching?"

"Hah... yeah." The Cavallone Boss shrugged. "He seemed to be looking forward to the fight when I saw him earlier today." Dino raised an eyebrow at Reborn's smile, but didn't comment. He had a feeling he knew the reason why he was smiling. His eyes found Masami and sweatdropped.

She was cheerfully being whapped on the back of the head by a smiling Akane as punishment for being an idiot. The woman then whapped Tsuna on the head just for kicks.

Dino winced on their behalf and decided to step in. Akane didn't seem to be satisfied with just one hit.

"Um, guys..." Dino trailed off when he saw Akane giving him a saccharine smile. That couldn't be good. "I think we should watch Yamamoto's battle now?"

He stepped back when he saw Akane's eyes narrow into a glare for ruining her fun.

Scary.

Masami nodded, head still smarting from the well-deserved smack.

The reason she had come was to support Yamamoto.

* * *

The only thing that could be said about the Shigure Souen style was-

"Fucking hell," Akane whispered, looking impressed and she was not the type to be impressed often.

"Of course," Reborn said plainly. "Yamamoto is a natural-born hitman, after all."

Tsuna looked perturbed. "Don't say such scary things!"

Every spectator stared, wide-eyed, at the 9th form that Yamamoto had spontaneously created. He had... managed to create such a great move during the match.

Truly amazing.

Masami watched as the curtain of rain fell with Yamamoto as the one left standing. Scratches and deep gashes marred his tanned skin, but he was grinning when he turned to wave at them.

"...Stupid baseball freak," Gokudera rasped.

"Oh," Masami hummed out. "You're awake."

Gokudera scowled and diverted his attention from the won battle to her. "Shut up. Why is my head on your lap?" he growled out.

Masami blinked before a stupid grin made its way to her face. He didn't remember. He didn't remember anything at all.

She could use this.

"Oh, don't you remember?" Masami laughed. It sounded a little shrill to her ears. "You slipped on a puddle and then was knocked out when you fell." She kept laughing as Gokudera scrutinized her closely, gauging whether or not she was telling the truth. She was bad at lying. Really bad at lying, but he was half-asleep and not in his right mind, so she had a chance to escape Gokudera's screams (and dynamite). Their staring match and Masami's laughing was interrupted by Tsuna, who noticed that Gokudera was awake. His face crumpled up in relief.

"Gokudera-kun, you're awake! Thank god!"

The silver-haired boy grinned hugely at Tsuna.

"Yeah, Juudaime." His smile became a frown. "I'll watch for puddles and stuff more closely so that I don't miss any of the battles!"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "A puddle...?"

Meanwhile, Masami was making hand gestures that signified for Tsuna to go with whatever Gokudera was saying. Tsuna sweatdropped and quickly figured out what was going on.

He inwardly sighed.

"Yeah... a puddle, Gokudera-kun..."

Tsuna didn't reply to the discreet thumbs-up that Masami gave him.

_"-kill that trash myself."_

Masami caught the sound of a gruff voice speaking those words and turned back to the battle. She could see it. The Varia boss_ -Xanxus, was it?-_ holding up his hand.

_It can't be... _She put two and two together. He was... planning to make flames through his hands. She had to warn him. Who knows how destructive that person's flame was. If Yamamoto was caught in the crossfire...

"Xanxus-sama, please stop. It's dangerous for you to go into the field now," a cool voice said courteously before Masami could open her mouth. It was one of the Cervello women. "The water levels are at a high enough level. The creature's been released."

_Creature? _

"What do they mean?" Tsuna asked, just before all of them saw what the Cervello meant.

"This is bad..." Dino whispered as the screen flashed to a _shark _weaving through the water.

"HIII!" Tsuna screeched. "Yamamoto, get out of there!"

"Yeah, because talking to a screen is so effective," Akane grumbled out, but, she too, was watching the screen.

...Yamamoto was trying to save Squalo.

"Yamamoto..." Tsuna trailed off as he watched the boy try to lift up the older man, despite the severity of his injuries.

"Stupid fucking baseball freak," Gokudera growled halfheartedly, his brows furrowed in concern. "That isn't going to work."

Everyone could only watch in shock as Squalo pushed Yamamoto off him and practically throw himself into the water. The murky water was slowly dyed to red as the shark tore into Squalo's already-mangled body, but-

But all Masami could see was the look on Yamamoto's face. It would forever be burned into her mind because it just wasn't like him, just wasn't like Yamamoto not to smile and instead have _that _emotion on his face.

Anguish.

* * *

Why was she here again?

Masami squirmed anxiously as she sat on the bed. Yamamoto's bed to be exact.

**Yamamoto's bed. **

She rubbed her eyes tiredly. It was late now, past midnight. Masami wasn't exactly uncomfortable that she was in Yamamoto's room in the middle of the night or even how they had to sneak into Yamamoto's home while his father was sleeping or how they had to be very quiet to not wake the man up, but it was more so...

_...That we should have stayed at the hospital._

They'd gone after the battle to treat Yamamoto's wounds and to see Lambo, but Yamamoto hadn't stayed. He'd insisted jovially that he should go home because his dad would worry if he stayed in the hospital.

Reborn had agreed and "persuaded" the reluctant people, particularly a screeching Tsuna, with a gun. They really should have gone to the hospital to get Yamamoto checked up on and treated.

Masami sighed and flopped down on the bed, exasperated.

_She was here to...-_

The official reason was to make sure Yamamoto's dressings were done right by him. He was wounded badly and would need to change his bandages everyday by himself for about a month.

_The real reason is because..._ Masami covered her eyes with an arm.

_"He can't go home," Masami said tersely to Reborn. She looked behind her to see Yamamoto laughing at something with his friends and Dino. She guessed they were probably talking about the battle because of the grim and worried expressions on their faces._

_"He's going home," Reborn stated as he put his gun away. There was no need for it now that Tsuna had been... "persuaded". Masami bristled angrily at his retort. Yamamoto was injured and the Arcobaleno was saying for him to go home?_

_"Then why is Lambo in the hospital?" Masami shot back._

_"His injuries are more severe," Reborn replied. "And Mama has given Lambo permission to stay in the hospital. Papan," he said, referring to Tsuyoshi. "Doesn't know anything about the ring battles. It would be better if not such a big deal was made out of Yamamoto's injuries, for his dad's sake."_

_Masami's cheeks puffed up. She got his logic, but... but...  
_

_"He's still injured!" _

_"He'll be fine as long as he follows the doctor's instructions on the bandages and the medication."_

_Masami smirked in victory at Reborn then._

_"I'm betting that he doesn't know how to change his bandages!" she exclaimed, finally making a solid argument. Her smirk widened when he saw the flicker of hesitance in Reborn's eyes. What middle schooler who thought they were playing a mafia game would know how to change bandages, after all? "He should stay in the hospital so that the nurses and the doctors can make sure that everything is going smoo-"_

_"Just go to his house then and make sure he can do it properly." Akane stopped examining her short, but polished, green nails to smile sweetly at them.  
_

Huh?

_Reborn blinked curiously at Masami. _

_"You know first-aid?" he demanded. _

_Masami spluttered. This was bringing them back to where they started! She bit her lip as she looked at Reborn's unnerving black eyes. Was he glaring at her or was it just her? She winced when she heard the click of a gun._

_"Yeppers!" Akane exclaimed rather cheerily before Reborn could blow a hole through Masami's head. She gave them both a Cheshire Cat's grin. "I taught her a bit when she was younger. Albeit, she's pretty bad at actually doing it, but Mana should at least be able to tell if Yama-kun is doing it right!"_

_"Ah..." Masami stepped back, just in case. "I may have kind of forgot-"_

_She was immediately pulled by her shirt front by Akane, whose eyes were flashing. The unnerving smile was still on the older woman's face though. Masami shrinked back.  
_

_"Don't tell me that you forgot, Mana? Especially after I made you read all those books to teach yourself." She tilted her head. "W-ell?"_

_...Masami sighed in resignation. _

_"Okay, I'll do it."  
_

Granted, she wasn't doing it only because Akane had forced the job on her, but more so-

She couldn't forget the look on Yamamoto's face back there.

"Masami?" a voice said.

Masami's eyes shot open and she put herself upright. She had been daydreaming. Yamamoto was standing over her, a towel over his washed and messy hair. His arms were exposed from the blue shirt he was wearing. Masami cringed at the sight of the bandages that were wrapped around his entire arm and the patch adorning his injured eye. Huffing, she stood up from the bed and pointed to it professionally.

"Lie on the bed, Yamamoto-kun," she ordered. He blinked silently at her command before smiling.

"It makes me... happy you're worried about me, Masami." Before she could reply, he was already lying on the bed, beaming up at her with a grin on his face.

"Of course I'm worried, Yamamoto-kun..." Masami kneeled down so that she was hovering just above Yamamoto's bedside. She lifted up her arm to inspect his work. It was pretty good. Just a bit loose -a common mistake for beginners- but that could easily be remedied. She put down his arm carefully and noticed his eyepatch was a little off-centre. With careful hands, Masami adjusted it and smiled warmly at him.

"You're my friend, after all." She blinked at the disappointed look Yamamoto gave her as he sat up so they were both at eye-level.

"Just a friend, huh..." he repeated softly. She held her breath as he brushed away a stray strand of hair the sakura clip had let escape. Her underclassman seemed a little... off today. She frowned. He wasn't 'just a friend'.

"One of my _dear_ friends," Masami corrected in a matter-of-fact fashion before turning to the first-aid kit by her side and picking up some gauze.

"Now lift up your shirt!" she chirped happily.

_That _seemed to snap Yamamoto out of his reverie.

"W-what? Lift up my shirt?" His eyes widened to comical proportions. "Masami, that's kind of... weird."

Masami raised an eyebrow at that. Yamamoto didn't _seem_ to be the type to be shy about showing his chest. Sure, he wasn't one of those macho-macho men who took off their shirt in public to secretly flaunt their muscles, but she didn't think he would be self-conscious. She wondered why he was acting all timid now...

"I need to re-bandage your chest," Masami insisted. It was an area that people tended not to do right since you couldn't really see well when you were wrapping it all around. Masami narrowed her eyes at the hesitance Yamamoto displayed. She pursed her lips.

She would have to take matters into her own hands. Who knows what the reprecussions of not taking care of his wounds could be?

"Masami...? Yamamoto's mouth opened in shock as moved swiftly up at him, leaning close to him, one foot supporting some of her weight against the floor while the knee of her other leg was propped on the bed in a very uncomfortable position for him between his legs. In the next moment, he heard the 'snip' of the bandages being cut. He stared incredulously at the victorious smirk on her face.

"Okay, now just move back a bit so that I can see better..." Masami paused and placed the back of her hand on Yamamoto's forehead. "...Your face is red again. Are you sure you aren't sick?" Having been soaked in massive amounts of water couldn't be good for you.

Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head. The tint of pink on his cheeks were unmistakable.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He moved back.

"All right..." Masami positioned herself so that she was on her knees on the bed and proceeded to wrap the bandages she had gotten from the kit as carefully and as precise as she could manage. Her mediocre first-aid skills couldn't have gotten _better_ after being so long without any practice, after all.

* * *

Yamamoto watched, with undivided attention, Masami wrap the bandages around his torso. His hold on the bed sheets tightened when her hands accidentally brushed his skin occasionally. Yamamoto blinked slowly. Her hands were small, but he could feel and see the calluses on them. At the same time, she smelled nice like some kind of flowery soap. Yamamoto could feel a smile touch his mouth.

"Yamamoto...kun...?"

Masami had finished bandaging his chest and he had...

Yamamoto could see her face turning a crimson red as he put her hand against his mouth, his lips brushing against her knuckles. He didn't let himself feel hopeful. She probably thought it was just him being 'friendly' or something like that.

...

He let go of Masami's hand with a smile. "Thanks for bandaging me up, Masami." He noticed something and let out another laugh. "They're a little looser than before."

Masami's eye twitched before sighing drearily.

"It's just like Akane-san said..." she grumbled glumly. She turned to Yamamoto and narrowed her eyes.

"I think that you should do it yourself then, Yamamoto-kun..."Masami said, running a hand through her hair. "Just do it much tighter than what you or I did before."

Yamamoto nodded amicably as he casually stuck a finger through a hole between the loosened bandages.

"Hmm... all right." Yamamoto looked out the window and saw the drizzle outside that had started about two hours ago was slowly increasing.

"Hey..." He heard Masami say. He turned his head and was startled to find her pink eyes were piercing.

"...Are you okay?"

Yamamoto grinned jovially. Masami was still worried about him? How... nice.

He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm fine. The injuries just kinda ache now."

Masami shook her head vigorously at her response and the expression on her face looked uncomfortable

"I mean if you're all right about that guy..." She hesitated. "...Squalo."

* * *

Masami could feel her stomach drop when Yamamoto's eyes darkened; not from anger, but from sadness.

"I'm fine," Yamamoto finally told her and she may not have been the best at telling whether someone was lying or not, but Masami could tell her friend was doing a pretty damned bad job doing it. Masami scowled.

"Liar," she stated and could feel anger welling up inside her. Why did he-

Yamamoto stiffened visibly when Masami managed to get on top of him in, what, the second time in barely more than a day? And yeah, Yamamoto didn't notice this. Not at all.

"Masami, I'm not lyi-"

"Yes, you are," she insisted. Yamamoto flinched as her fingers dug into his forearms where he had been injured. Masami squeaked as she noticed and backed away quickly.

"Crap. Sorry, Yamamoto-kun." Yamamoto was silent as Masami nervously brushed aside a stray strand of hair that had slipped from her clip's hold. His eyes went to the clip for a split second and he frowned. "I don't like seeing you so depressed and pretending you're not depressed." Masami pointed a finger to his chest.

"You should show your feelings a little more."

The movement was so quick that it was over in the blink of an eye.

"Yama-" Masami started. Yamamoto had flipped her over on the bed, so that he was looming over her. His hands were intertwined with her own. She didn't move, too surprised at what had just happened.

"Haha..." His laugh didn't sound real to her ears. His dark eyes were blank. "I am upset. It's one of those times I think that this game is going too far."

_Game...? _He **still** thought it was a game?

"But there's people that will worry about me if I'm depressed," Yamamoto continued. A sincere smile reached his mouth. "You're the only one who saw through me."

Masami's breathing hitched as Yamamoto's head dipped down to her own, until their noses were touching. He gazed at her pink orbs unblinkingly.

"If only you could see _that_..."

Masami could feel the close proximity slowly begin to overwhelm her because it reminded her exactly of...

_...that time with Hibari._

But unlike Hibari, Masami didn't need to kick him off her. He got off her swiftly.

"I think it's time you went home now, Masami," he said. The usual grin on his face wasn't there. A wall of neutrality met her eyes.

Masami's eyes widened at the uncharacteristic expression. She bit her lip. He was doing it again. Withholding stuff. What did he mean by 'seeing'? What exactly was it that she couldn't see? Not only that, but Yamamoto seemed more... sad than he had before she had come.

"Why-"

A clap of thunder interrupted Masami's interrogation.

...

Yamamoto awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. Masami was hiding under his covers.

"Masami... are you afraid of lightning?" He could see the blush on her cheeks as she peeked out from under the sheets.

"Not at all," she denied vehemently. It wasn't lightning, just thunder, but Yamamoto certainly didn't need to know that. The loud noises always made her jump and she absolutely hated it. She guessed thunder for her was like a popped balloon to others. Another clap of thunder made her instantly pale. She looked to Yamamoto sheepishly. He blinked.

"But, I was wondering if I could stay here for the night." She knew Yamamoto didn't have a formal guest room. "In your room, I mean."

There was a significant long pause, save the sound of rain hitting against his window.

"Yamamoto-kun...?" She was instantly regretting her decision to ask him. His expression was completely expressionless. She cringed inwardly. He probably didn't want her staying for the night since he was injured and all.

"Oh... oh!" He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. His brows furrowed for a moment and she could see his cheeks were tinged red. He exhaled and grinned at her.

"Yeah, sure! Just let me go grab a futon." Yamamoto was gone before she could say another word.

Masami's eyes shut tightly as more thunder roared. She shivered and held the sheets closer to her. She was really hoping he would hurry. As she snuggled into the sheets, she silently dismissed the idea to call Hibari's house and tell him.

She was sure he wouldn't care.

* * *

A/N: Like he wouldn't care... X)

Here comes some shameless pimping! Recently, I've been a little more active on LJ. I'm helping to managa a **KHR Fanfic Contest** community on it called write_and_run. We're always welcoming new writers. Adding to that, I've also started a community where I've** spammed icons** I've made. The links to both are in my profile. It would be great if you checked both of them out. I may be pimping another community out in the next chapter too, haha, but for now, I'll be quiet.

I'll be skipping the Mist Battle and going to the Cloud one. Sorry for those that wanted to see more of Mukuro, but I can't think of a good way to involve Masami in his battle without getting writer's block. He'll be back in the Future Arc. (:

As always, thank you for reading and please review to tell me what you think. Reviews further fuel my passion for writing and will help me get back into the weekly update swing of things.

* * *

_**Next Chapter Preview:**_

_"What exactly do you think you were doing staying there?"_

**_"Why do you follow him, Kusakabe-san? I really don't get it."_**  
**_"It's a complicated thing, Masa-"_**  
**_"Explain, please."_**

_"Mana... why haven't you gotten them yet? You promised, didn't you?"_


	22. Break

**A/N:** Thank you to MikaUchiha666, Akuma no Tenshi 666, stuffedninja101, Kichou, MiyukiNishio, DarkRoadHina, hauarie, Chocolate Ribbons, Conanfan15, Senna-X, hiyomi, fuwacchi, 21o(.)Amia(.)o86, 10th Squad 3rd Seat and Sesshylover978. You guys are awesome. (:

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading. :D

Warning: Small citrusy(?) scene

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 22: Break**

Kusakabe sighed wearily in the quiet of the office. He normally would never show any signs of being tired (The chairman was too scary to risk it), but...

There was so much paperwork! Recently, there was a surplus of hooligans running around the place making trouble, which meant more discipline dished out. Most of the troublemakers were dealt with by the chairman himself, but he had been busy for the last two weeks training for... well, Kusakabe had no idea what. He didn't ask either. Being 'bitten to death' by Hibari was not on the top of his to-do list.

_Must be from the Kokuyo Incident... _Kusakabe was guessing that the large amount of incidents were due to the fact that many delinquents were now thinking that the Disciplinary Committee's grip on power was loosening. Kusakabe's brows furrowed severely. Hibari hadn't yet re-established his power by personally dealing out punishment. He was too busy fighting that blond, Italian man. Between beating up weaklings and trying to severely injure, in Kusakabe's own modest opinion, a fairly strong foreigner, he knew Hibari would pick the second one, hands down.

...

Kusakabe sighed again. More trouble meant more reports. It was times like these that made him wish Masami was back on the committee just to lighten the load a little. He rubbed his eyes. His vision was starting to blur.

"You seem... tired," an oddly familiar tinkling voice remarked.

Kusakabe's eyes shot open. He instantly recognized the voice to be Masami's and briefly wondered how she managed to sneak up on him before his jaw dropped.

_Pink hair? _Kusakabe thought incredulously. He had heard from Hibari, in passing, about Masami's hair and eye colour change though he didn't quite understand why Hibari was allowing her to dye her hair and wear contacts. Kusakabe didn't dare question him. The chairman's word were law, after all. He blinked dumbly. That couldn't really explain why she looked kind of... fragile now. He didn't have a better word for it.

Masami grinned sheepishly at his expression. She seemed to know what he was thinking, but didn't comment on it.

"Haven't seen you in a while, ahaha..."

Kusakabe snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.

"It_ has_ been a while," he agreed amicably. He'd missed their conversations together.

_Wait a moment..._ Kusakabe could feel dread filling him as something hit him.

"Wh... what are you doing here, Masami-san?" Kusakabe asked as he resisted the urge to dart his eyes at the door for any signs of his boss. Not that it was likely for Hibari to pop in _now_ of all times, but one never knew... Hibari didn't like anyone crowding in the Disciplinary Room. Not even the committee members were allowed, excluding very, very, very extenuating circumstances. Kusakabe frowned. Hibari was even reluctant to let his own vice-president in the room and almost always went out when he was inside.

Kusakabe stared purposefully at the decidedly innocent-looking Masami who was busy rifling through the papers on the coffee table loudly.

"...What are you doing, Masami-san?"

Masami was currently halving the stack of reports. He watched worriedly as she stiffened for a moment before relaxing.

_Ah... _He already had an idea of what happened.

"I'm avoiding someone," Masami explained quietly as she started to leaf through the halved stack she got for herself. "I thought it would be good to spend time here since I haven't seen you for a while."

Kusakabe blinked. It was kind of ironic that she was avoiding... a certain someone... by going to the Reception Room. Couldn't she just go to the shopping district to hang out or even to her home? Unbeknown to Kusakabe, nobody had bothered to mention to the young man that Hibari and Masami were roommates.

Masami suddenly grinned and, for a moment, she looked just like the cute-looking kid she had been before Kokuyo Incident.

"...And I thought to myself today that I hadn't seen you for a while." She stared down at the papers. "You seem to need some help too."

_Oh... _Kusakabe felt oddly touched. Being the vice-chairman of the Disciplinary meant that _he _was the one caring for people and if anyone should care about him, it would be Hibari.

...

Hibari wasn't the type _at all _to be affectionate towards his subordinates. Kusakabe shuddered and quickly shook away the disturbing mental image.

Oh, he could guess who she was avoiding, but instead of bothering to deal with whatever had happened again _(The last time he got involved, Masami had blown up on him)_-

Kusakabe smiled pleasantly.

"Thank you for your help, Masami-san," the male told her cordially.

Masami waved him off easily. "Don't be so cordial, Kusakabe-san."

* * *

What Kusakabe didn't know was that Hibari was presently trying to find Masami and had been trying to do so ever since school had ended.

He still couldn't find her. His eyes narrowed as he stalked down the halls. He was going back to the office to re-group. After that, Hibari fully intended to go off the school grounds to search for her. His fists clenched around the tonfas he was holding. That girl had better explain exactly why she hadn't returned yesterday.

He would find her, no matter what.

A group of crowders were still in the hall, despite it being after school. It was unlucky for them that they had been caught by him on this particular day. Normally, he would have given them some kind of warning; five seconds to run away with their tail between their legs. He didn't this time.

**_Hibari refused to accept it-_**

The crowders gasped as the feared head prefect seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere. He carelessly smashed one of his to tonfas into one of the shocked faces of the herbivores, meanwhile never stopping his quick pace. He paid no attention to the upset cries and continued on his way.

_**-that some part of his agitation was because of the melancholy expression on her face that night.  
**_

* * *

"I've been wondering this for a long time..."

Kusakabe looked up from the papers at her sudden and unexpected question. It was being completed at a much faster speed because of Masami's help. Said girl's brows were furrowed as she stared at him.

"Why... do you follow him?"

...

Kusakabe chuckled, much to Masami's chagrin. She blushed, embarrassed. It had been meant to be a serious question...

When Kusakabe was done laughing, he turned to smile at Masami. "He's kind of a... role model for us."

Masami blinked. Now she was even more confused.

Kusakabe must have seen her confusion because he gestured with his large, strong hands to explain.

"It's because of Kyoya-san that us members now have a goal: to protect Namimori and its peace. Before he whipped us into shape, we were just simple delinquents with no meaning behind our violence."

"You guys are still being violent," Masami pointed out bluntly. Kusakabe smiled sheepsihly. He couldn't deny it. He didn't partake in the fighting often, but he knew, _very_ well, that Hibari used less than... peaceful methods to maintain the peace. He shook his head. _Ah, the irony again..._

"But the town is peaceful, isn't it, Masami-san?"

"If you call the ass-kicking that the committee does everyday peaceful..." Masami grumbled.

"Masami-san..."

Masami smiled at Kusakabe.

"I guess I know what you mean though." It wasn't as if the students didn't laugh or have fun at school.

_I mean, I guess they have less fun with Hibari around, but it isn't all that bad._

Kusakabe stared at Masami's thoughtful expression.

"Why are you and Kyoya-san fighting?" He had countered her sudden question with one of his own and asked it so damn suddenly that Masami couldn't help but squeak loudly and stiffen.

"H-how did you know?" Masami asked before realizing what she just said and shook her head furiously. "I mean, that's not it at all!"

"Masami-san..." Kusakabe said awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck; a chink in his professional-type armour. "You just said-"

"It's.** Nothing**. Kusakabe-san," Masami grit out, eyes flashing angrily.

"A-all right," he backed away immediately, feeling a tinge of fear from looking at her angry eyes. "I-I'll stop asking you."

Masami's eyes scrunched up defensively. "Good."

The loud sound of the door opening made Kusakabe pale even more. It couldn't be... Wasn't _he _supposed to be sleeping on the roof? His head turned mechanically and his fears were confirmed.

"Kyoya-san!"

Hibari ignored his subordinate, his eyes narrowing upon spotting a stunned Masami.

"You..."

Masami yelped as she felt she was roughly pulled out of the room by an expressionless Hibari.

Kusakabe stared at the closed door.

What exactly just happened?

* * *

Masami stared, wide-eyed at Hibari's back as he pulled her to an unknown destination. Her eyes turned downcast and she bit the inside of her cheek. Hard. What was he doing?

_Hey, Hibari..._

Wasn't _she _the one that was supposed to be mad? It didn't make any sense to her at all.

Not at all.

_You're always doing things that confuse me or hurt me and saying things that make me feel bad... _

She had been thinking about what he said for the whole night, while listening to Yamamoto softly breathing. The loud thunder didn't even phase her thoughts and she realized that morning that the reason was that she had been so deep in thought, the biting words Hibari said to her cutting her deeply like a knife every time she thought of it.

_...I want to know why _you _can affect me so much...  
_

She wasn't usually a person that was affected by what anyone did or did, unless they commented on when she was younger, purposely prodding at painful memories she would rather forget. Akane's usual comments slid off her like water; a cold feeling, but would quickly fade.

_The only one that could affect me like this is dead now... So why...  
_

Masami gasped as she was practically shoved through the metal door. She fell to her hands and knees. She hissed loudly and moved her hands to examine them. They were scrapped now. She could only imagine the skin on her knees were scrapped just as badly. Masami flinched when she heard the door to the roof behind her close with a harsh noise. She saw shoes in front of her from her peripheral vision.

Masami's eyes drifted up slowly until she met the cool, aristocratic face of Hibari. She didn't want him to be looking down on her like that. She stood up carefully, stifling a pained gasp when she felt the injuries on her knees.

"W-what is it?" Damn, her voice wavered.

"Where were you?" he demanded coolly. She finally noticed the tonfas in his hands and knew that, despite his casual posture, he could attack her at anytime. She leaned back against the door behind her for support. Her knees hurt too much to stand properly. He had thrown her hard against the ground, enough that she could feel a minute trace of blood trickling down her legs.

Masami lifted her chin. "I was staying over at Yamamoto's. Why do you care so much-"

Hibari was on her in a second.

Masami let out a choked out cry as the cold metal of the tonfa pushed down on her neck. She had a feeling that the reason her throat hadn't been crushed yet was because she was relieving some of the tremendous pressure with her own two hands. She attempted, futilely, to remove it.

He was too strong.

The glint in Hibari's eyes were murderous as he scowled at her.

"...Did anything happen?"

Masami blinked confusedly. What was he talking about?

She blushed a bright red when she realized what he was implying.

"N-n-no! It wasn't like that at all!" she spluttered, half from embarrassment and the rest from lack of oxygen to her head. What kind of person did Hibari think she was anyway!

Hibari's gaze burned into her face and she half-expected her face to be burned off or something silly like that. That was how extraordinary the look he was pinning her with was. Without another word, he let her go, but didn't step back as much as Masami would have liked. She was too busy frantically inhaling oxygen to care at the moment. She coughed continuously and doubled over to muffle the sounds.

Hibari stood there silently as she continued coughing and breathing in at the same time and all Masami could think of right now was that she didn't want to look like this _-completely pathetic-_ with him in front of her.

When Masami finally found enough energy in her, she lifted up her head to glare at him.

"I didn't call you or anything because I didn't think you would care!"

Hibari frowned and proceeded to pull her by her uniform tie to him until their noses were touching. She didn't resist, feeling too weak and lightheaded to do so.

"...I wouldn't have allowed you to even stay there, girl."

Masami's face turned red, but from anger this time. She hastily shoved him away and was upset to find that he hadn't moved and had simply let go of her tie. She resorted to backing herself into the wall, until she was almost melting into it.

"...W-why do you care so much about what I do anyway?" It wasn't like anything she did would affect him in a bad way. She didn't understand at all!

Hibari stiffened at her question. Masami pursed her lips. He seemed almost... confused now. But, the moment was gone as soon as it arrived because he immediately straightened up again and stared at her with his usual impassive face.

"...Because you're mine."

...

"...That... That's a stupid reason!" Masami shouted. He had said that before and the feeling of anger of being claimed didn't change.

"I'm not yours! Didn't I already say it before? I even kicked you because you were being such a jerk. I'm not your stupid secretary more and I'll soon not be your house guest anymore," she exclaimed, unaware of the slow narrowing of Hibari's eyes. "When I find a new place to live, I'm leaving just like that-"

And this was a cue for Masami to snap her fingers to further emphasize her points if not for how Hibari had shoved his hands, tonfas still in them, against the door on either side of her.

Her closed eyes shot open when she felt his mouth pressed against her slender throat. Masami was sure he could hear, or at least feel, the distinct pounding of her heartbeat.

"...Punishment," he whispered against the pale skin.

"G-get off, Hibari! Right-ahh!"

Hibari effectively interrupted her when she felt his teeth biting into her skin. Masami froze from struggling. He was... he was...-

Masami tried to ignore it; the sensations of his tongue against her skin and she tried to do it. Tried her hardest to move, but her body wasn't complying with her brain. Her _brain _couldn't work when his lips moved to make light bites, almost kisses, against her neck. She gasped at the first one and didn't register the pleased smirk against her soft skin. She could only see his dark hair in her vision, only hear the clang of his tonfas hitting the ground as his hands clutched her arms.

_The only one that can affect me..._

His ministrations stopped when he was done kissing along her small jaw line and he lifted his head to look at her doe eyes. When he was here, this close to her, she could see the hints of blue in his eyes, the fact that there were no imperfections on his flawless skin and the unfamiliar expression he was carrying right now. She didn't move one inch when he moved up, almost languidly, until his lips were almost touching her own.

_The only one that **should **affect me is-_

_**-Rei.**_

The sound of Masami slapping Hibari resounded throughout the school grounds.

She didn't stay to witness his expression.

She didn't want to see the prideful Hibari's expression after she just hit him like that.

Masami hastily opened the door behind her and squeezed herself through the crack. She took two steps at a time, nearly tripping twice before getting back on flat ground again. She had to go, get as far away from Hibari right now.

Because she didn't know what she should do.

Because she didn't know how she should be feeling right now.

Because she was such a coward.

So, without another word, Masami ran.

* * *

Akane whistled lowly.

Reborn clucked his tongue.

Dino stared incredulously at the two of them.

"I _really _think we shouldn't be doing this," he told the pair that were holding binoculars. This was like a deja-vu of when he and Reborn had spied on Masami and Hibari. That could (somewhat) be justified. _I mean, we had to look and see how good Hibari and Masami were at fighting. _

But this...** this** was being completely intrusive now! He knew the only reason they were doing this (with him being forcibly dragged) was because Akane and Reborn simply wanted to see how everything would unfold.

"I told you she was strong," Akane said to Reborn, completely ignoring the blond's cries to **cease and desist.**

"Well, I guess you were right," the baby admitted reluctantly. He was also blatantly ignoring his ex-student. "But, look at those skinny arms."

Okay... now Dino was a _little _curious of what was happening. He, just a small small little tiny smidgeon, regretted not bringing a third pair of binoculars. He rubbed the back of his head.

"What happened?"

"She slapped him after he tried molesting her," Akane and Reborn said at the same time, not looking at the Cavallone at all.

...Eh?

"WHAAAT?" Dino yelled out, his brows raising above his hairline. _Now _he regretted not bringing his binoculars.

Akane removed the binoculars from in front of her eyes and tossed them to Dino, who tried to catch them only to have it land on his head.

"OW!"

Reborn didn't spare a passing glance to his former student who was rubbing at his injured head and turned to look at Akane who was walking to the door.

"And where are _you _going?" the Arcobaleno asked.

"I don't think Mana should see the Mist Battle today, you know... with _him _being the Mist Guardian. It would be bad for her mind right now, especially when she has Hibari on the brain too." Akane shrugged, but didn't stop walking. "Going to find some things to distract her tonight."

Reborn blinked once, then twice, before smiling.

"You really do care for her, don't you?"

"Shut up, you stupid baby," Akane immediately shot back.

...She narrowly avoided the bullet as she shut the door.

...

"Wow..." Dino was now looking through Akane's binoculars. "Look at that dent in the door."

Reborn raised his own binoculars to his eyes. He smirked.

There was a dent in the door and he could tell that it was made by Hibari's tonfa. He saw something interesting on the Cloud Guardian's face as the boy stood alone on the roof.

Frustration, not anger.

But not towards Masami.

Reborn could intuitively tell it was towards himself.

* * *

_"Rei."_

_Rei stopped patting the sleeping Masami's head to turn to Akane. The female teenager crouched down beside him. She careless brushed a stray strand of hair from Masami's face. The young girl's nose scrunched up before relaxing again._

_Akane didn't allow herself to show what she thought of the look that was on Rei's normally passive face as she spoke. _

_"You know~ I don't think you're raising her right," Akane sang out. It wasn't as if she was an expert on raising kids. She was likely the last person to ask in the art of childcare, but even she knew something was a little... off about how Rei was raising the young girl. _

_"Like how you don't like her interacting with the boys at her school or how you keep giving her the old, 'all boys have cooties' thing, except you, or how you won't let her read any of my shoujo man-"_

_"I'm being selfish." __Rei carelessly brushed a stray strand of hair from Masami's face.  
_

_His mouth curved up slightly. "Being protective."_

_Akane's eye twitched. That... was a terrible reason. _

_ "But what about if you leave her or die?" Every girl deserved to fall in love at least once. It was just... law. Akane understood that completely because she was a girl, after all. But if someone like Masami, who was naturally good at sensing how people felt, didn't have any book or hands-on experience with love..._

_Akane sighed. The results would be disastrous, if not fun to watch._

_Rei turned to her and she certainly did not let her heart beat a little faster as she stared at his light grey eyes. _

_"I won't leave her and I won't die then," he said simply and all Akane could think was for a rational person, Rei sure had his irrational moments._

* * *

Masami ran for a long time, until her lungs felt like they were on fire and only stopped when she felt she was about to collapse from exhaustion. She recognized the streets. She had ended up somewhere near the shopping district, but not close enough for there to be a lot of people. She crouched down to sit on her knees and stared at the ground.

What had happened back there?

Masami knew he had been mad at her, that much had been obvious. What was not obvious to her was why he had done what he had done.. He seemed to be trying to... tell her something. She unconsciously touched the wound he had made on her neck and flinched. It felt more... tingly than painful.

Masami could still feel it. His lips brushing across her skin, the shallow bites, the feel of his hands wrapped firmly around her arms...

She shook her head. _Don't think about it, Masami! _She slapped both her cheeks hard, flinching slightly from the pain on her skinned hands. Undeterred by the discomfort, Masami wearily brushed one of her hands through her hair.

_Clink._

Masami stared at the hair clip on the ground. The one that... Hibari had given to her. She had gotten used to wearing it. It was now a habit to put the small accessory in her hair everyday. She looked at it for a long while, her normally bright eyes dull. Masami finally pocketed the clip and stood up. Her knees and hands still hurt, she was sure there was a bruise in the shape of a tonfa across her throat and another smaller wound where Hibari had... _bitten her._

She needed to examine her injuries.

She needed to think more about what had happened.

**She needed-**

Masami stopped.

She needed to apologize to Hibari for acting like that. For slapping him.

"Heyy!" a voice called out to her, interrupting her thoughts."I finally found you!"

Masami swerved around to see Akane walking up to her with a plastic bag filled with some kind of box in it.

Akane's eyes widened as she got closer to the younger girl.

"Oh, wow. What_ever _happened to you?" she asked. "That pitiful look on your face look like you've been through hell and back. Not that I would know why you look like that... of course." She nervously laughed here. "Ahaha..."

"..." Masami began to walk away. She wasn't in a mood to deal with this at all.

"I can treat you at my hotel room," Akane offered to the girl's back. "I mean, if for some _weird_ reason you're not going back to Hibari-kun's. Haha."

"..." Masami turned robotically and the woman smirked at her. Akane took out what she had in the plastic bag with a flourish. It was bulky and colourful and-

"I bought Scrabble! We can play tonight!" And she continued just for the sake of saying something mean.

"Now stop looking like a depressed little kid and come with me~!"

If Masami had been in her right mind, she would have asked herself why Akane was being less meaner than usual, but instead, she trailed behind the chipper woman quietly as Akane led her to the hotel.

...

Akane eyed Masami discreetly and couldn't help a small ugly smile to touch her mouth, thinking that she was kind of happy that the girl was visibly suffering.

She_ had_ stolen Rei, after all.

* * *

A/N: Yes, yes, I know. My preview from the previous chapter doesn't make any sense. Yes,yes, I also know... It's nauseatingly dramatic and lastly, yes, I know. Masami may have acted like a total bratty bitch in this chapter and I'm sorry for that. She'll be back to her normal self in two chapters. (: For this chapter, I would really like to know what people thought of this chapter. Any opinion, positive or negative, is welcome!

Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought of the chapter.

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview:**

_"Hey, Masami. Are you tired because of Hibari or because you're tired..."_

**_"Yama-"_**  
**_"Did Hibari do this to you?"_**

_'Hibari, when I said you weren't infallible, I didn't really believe it, so-_  
_Why are you hurt now?'_


	23. Tears

A/N: I woke up after about an hour sleeping, then felt like getting this out. ^_^ Thank you to Kichou, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, DarkRoadHina, Conanfan15 (twice~!), MiyukiNishio, Senna-X, Anonymous, stuffedninja101, sessylover978, Akuma no Tenshi 666, hiyomi, hauarie, 100Paperfans (thricee~) and fuwacchi for reviewing. They brighten up my days, so thank you. (: Thank you to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!

**Read the ending notes please. It has information on what is to come.**

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 23: Tears**

Akane had lost their tournament of Scrabble 10 games to 4. She pinched Masami's cheeks with vengeful glee and was happy to see her wince in her sleep on Akane's hotel couch. She looked at the clock.

9p.m. on the dot.

Akane shook her head. No self-respecting teenager would sleep this early under normal circumstances. Granted, Masami did have a right to be tired. _Hibari-kun must have given her a shock..._

The guy, if anything, should really try to understand people's feelings.

_And Mana, if anything, should get a few things through her thick skull._ Akane sighed. It wasn't really Masami's fault, she guessed. Akane knew she should have been more insistent on Masami reading her precious shoujo. Ah, well, it was too late to regret things now. It wasn't as if she hadn't been insistent because she had believed Rei's promise to stay alive.

_Not at all._

Akane patted the younger girl's head and briefly wondering where that pretty (and expensive-looking) hair clip was. She shrugged. Eh, who cared? Nevermind that. She turned to the bathroom. She needed to take a bath. Unlike Masami, she couldn't stand not taking a bath before going to bed.

"Hibari... is so confusing..."

Akane stiffened. She slowly turned back to Masami and blinked. The girl was still sleeping, but right now she was... talking in her sleep. Akane scratched the back of her head. Hmm, what to do, what to do? What would be the_ right_ thing to do in this situation? This was one of those rare opportunities that Masami was talking in her sleep. Wait, now that Akane thought of it, she had never witnessed Masami talking in her sleep. This was an excellent time to take advantage of the situation!

With just a moment's thought, Akane practically bounded over to Masami's sleeping form.

"And why exactly is he confusing, Mana-chan?" the woman asked in a chipper voice.

Masami snorted in her sleep. "He's... always doing... weird things, like... buying me that... dumb clip... and... what else... throwing me into lakes... Just yesterday... he was... acting weird again.." A soft sigh. "He... almost... made me forget..."

Akane had pulled up a chair beside the couch and rested her chin on her propped up hand. She already knew exactly who Masami didn't want to forget.

"Y'know... You seem to care a lot about what Hibari does and says." Akane had seen enough to notice something was off about Masami when it came to Hibari, like how the normally easygoing girl always seemed to be emotional (which consisted mostly anger), how she always kept that hair clip along with Rei's necklace _and how..._

"You seem to hold his opinion in high regard," Akane said. "Is it because you care for him a lot?" Even Akane couldn't make Masami want to strike her and yet that guy... Akane let out a laugh.

Rei had been the only one.

The keyword there is "had".

Akane watched, amused, as Masami shifted her head, as if she was shaking her head.

"No, no, no... If that were to happen, I... wouldn't be able... to forgive myself..."

"And why's that?"

"Because... It feels like I'm... replacing _him_... as the most... important person..." Masami muttered.

Akane ended it there. "You're surprisingly coherent when you're sleeping..." she mused.

Masami's long bangs were shadowing her face. It was pointless to try to brush them away since they would just go back, but Akane did it anyway. She bent down, until she was at eye level with the younger girl. Her eyes clearly reflected pity.

"Hey, Masami..." she whispered. "Are you sleeping because of that incident today or..." Her green eyes creased. How soon would _it _happen? She shook her head. She didn't want to think about _that. It'll come when it comes._

**_"...is it because you're getting more tired?"_**

As expected, the sleeping Masami didn't answer.

"Hmm..." Without another word, Akane continued with her mission to the bathroom, stretching her arms as she went. Well, like she had said before, there was no point in dwelling on things in the past.

Just like there was no point dwelling on what would happened if Rei was alive and once Masami got old enough.

* * *

Masami wrapped the scarf around her neck a little tighter. Under it was a bandage on the wound from the day before. She didn't have any clothes to change into when she woke up. Masami frowned at the visibility of her knees. She guessed it would do nothing to just be standing here in the middle of the grounds.

Masami rubbed her temples. She didn't even understand why she was here. It would make more sense if she completely avoided the Cloud battle, especially when she'd so callously skipped school today. She didn't want to go, feeling just a tad scared that Hibari would... confront her again. She bit her lip. On the other hand, she knew it would be good to try to make amends as soon as possible. Akane had called her stupid when she told the woman her first reason for going.

_Maybe I **am** being an idiot._

"HEY, Sakata!"

Masami's thoughts halted as a gruff voice called out to her. She swerved around and smiled warmly before waving. She could see Ryohei, Yamamoto and Gokudera walking towards her. Masami raised an eyebrow. No Tsuna? She knew he was training, but she would have thought that he'd be done by now, especially when his possible battle was tomorrow.

"I didn't see you in class today!" Ryohei explained. Ever since they had been introduced, the boy now noticed that she was in his classes, despite her missing a few for the past two weeks. "Were you sick to the EXTREME?"

Masami smiled uneasily at Ryohei's gruff, loud voice. Her head hurt a bit. Even though she had gone to sleep early, she couldn't really say that it had been a dreamless one.

"I'm really fine..." she muttered.

"Are you SURE you aren't sick!" Ryohei cocked his head. "You look really tired and..." He finally noticed. "... aren't you warm with that scarf on!"

Masami shook her head and nervously laughed. How could she explain that she was hiding something under it? What if they started worrying about her, especially while the Ring Battles were still going on?

"It's a fashion statement, haha..." Masami said sheepishly. Ryohei looked at her for a second before his face burst into a starburst grin.

"Okay!" Then, "Octopus Head! You look like a man with all those bandages on," he said in the same tone as saying, _"Oh, look! A butterfly!"_ Masami shook her head, slightly amused. She was learning that Ryohei's attention span wasn't one of the best.

Gokudera, who had been behind Ryohei, spluttered. Masami winced in sympathy. He must have been feeling more embarrassed than manly.

"S-shut up, Lawnhead!"

"Hey! That was an EXTREME compliment, Octopus Head!"

Masami silently watched the two argue. They were really engrossed in their argument. She still felt really tired. Too tired to scold them. With a sigh, Masami reached up to her face to try to rub the sleep out of her eyes...

...only to feel two hands covering her eyes. She would have reflexively headbutted the owner of the hands if not for the fact she heard a laugh.

"Yamamoto-kun...?" Masami asked as she turned. Lo and behold, it really was him. The small smile on his face curved down when he saw the bags under her eyes. Much to Masami's bemusement, the hands that had been cupping her cheeks moved slightly.

"Yamamoto...?" Masami stiffened when she felt his callused thumbs rub against the purplish skin gently. Her mouth parted slowly as she watched a dark expression take over Yamamoto's features.

"You really do look tired, Masami. Mind telling me why?" he asked lightly enough. Her eyes flickered to the side for a brief moment as if looking for an escape route. Yamamoto set his mouth in a tight line when he saw the action. What could Masami not want to talk about? His eyes widened in realization as he thought of the likely reason, but before he could say another word, Masami had pushed him away. She stepped back at the same time, laughing. Yamamoto watched her expression closely.

"I'm fine!" Masami waved her hands to reassure him. She didn't notice that she'd unwittingly shown him her injured hands until it was too late. She didn't have time to back away as Yamamoto grabbed her hands.

"Yama-" she said, trying to pull away. He held her wrists in a firm grip.

"...Did Hibari do this to you?"

_Shit._

"...It really isn't like that, Yamamoto-kun."

Yamamoto frowned. His mouth opened to say something, but then promptly shut when he glanced at the scarf around her neck.

"He didn't, did he...?" Yamamoto muttered quietly and all Masami could do was stand there, frozen, as he carefully began to unwrap the scarf. Why couldn't she move? She didn't want him to see... She didn't want_ anyone_ to see. It was too embarrassing, too _personal. _

"Masami..."' Yamamoto whispered. She flinched when his finger brushed against the mark and, immediately, backed off. There was no band-aid on the bite because unlike her knees and hands that had been injured by the hard fall, the wound on her neck wasn't serious enough to need a band-aid. The bleeding had stopped by the time she woke up, so she thought it would be better without one.

With or without one, it would only have the same effect of having someone ask questions.

Masami blushed slightly and was half-disturbed and half-confused with the reaction. It ached and only reminded her of what Hibari had done on the roof. She gulped. Shouldn't she be feeling... disgusted? She was feeling a lot more different from yesterday.

Yamamoto's hold on Masami's thin wrist tightened. It wasn't enough to hurt badly, but enough make her feel uncomfortable. Masami looked up at Yamamoto. What she was more worried was the dark gleam in Yamamoto's eyes. Dare she say that he looked a bit...

...dangerous?

"Did he hurt you?" he murmured quietly as he re-wrapped the scarf around Masami's neck. She shook her head right away. Finally something she could answer really sincerely.

"It hurt a little yesterday, but it doesn't really no-"

"I don't mean your body."

The rest of the sentence was lost as she felt the words die in her throat. Yamamoto took her silence as his answer and he stared at her. She looked haggard and there were stray locks across her face that had been held by the clip. He noted the hair accessory wasn't there anymore. He moved to brush away the strands only to stop when he saw her stiffen.

Masami smiled then in such a way that Yamamoto spoke before he could stop himself.

"Stay at my place."

...

Yamamoto laughed to unease the sudden tension. Why had he just said that? "Haha, I mean if you want to, you can. I'm sure my dad won't mind."

He watched her bite her lip and was slightly surprised that she was actually thinking about it.

"Would that really be okay?" she finally said.

Yamamoto nodded happily. "Yep. We have one more room at home actually. It was actually kind of a guest room for the rare relative that visited before pops and I started putting our junk in there."

Masami brightened considerably. "Are you sure it wouldn't be-"

"Hibari, you're here!" Ryohei's voice greeted loudly.

Masami and Yamamoto turned to see Hibari walking towards them. She winced and he saw her staring at the prefect's cheek. Yamamoto blinked. There was nothing there. What exactly was she looking at? Yamamoto could hear the girl's breath hitch as the prefect stared at her. She shyly hid behind him. The baseball lover blinked.

That wasn't like Masami at all.

Masami didn't see Yamamoto glaring right back at the scowling Hibari from her perspective. The silence lasted for a moment in time before Gokudera snorted.

"You were almost late," he pointed out bluntly to Hibari. The prefect took one more glance at Masami before turning to Gokudera with disdain in his eyes.

"School ended hours ago," Hibari remarked with narrowed eyes, ignoring the silver-haired boy's words. Even though he was only looking at Gokudera, he was addressing everyone.

"We came to EXTREMELY cheer you on, Hibari!" Ryohei butted in with vigor.

"...Unnecessary."

"...The only reason I came was because the Juudaime would have wanted us here, that's all. It wasn't for you at all," Gokudera grumbled.

Hibari ignored the silver-haired boy's explanation. Both Ryohei and Gokudera stepped back, aghast when Hibari's tonfas slipped out of his sleeves.

"W-what do you think you're doing?" Gokudera stuttered.

Ryohei expression went from shocked to elated in no time flat. He raised his fist above his head.

"Oh, I see! You want to have an EXTREME warm-up, right Hibari?"

Hibari's eyes became slits.

"No."

Yamamoto watched the exchange with a grin on his face, but it soon disappeared when he happened to look down at his side.

Masami had only eyes for Hibari as she watched the exchange. Sure, they reflected regret, but he couldn't help it when he grabbed onto her hand lightly, perfectly aware of how they were still injured. He grinned at her cheerily when she shifted a questioning gaze onto him.

"Let's go ahead, Masami, all right?"

Masami hesitated for a brief moment before nodding.

"Okay, haha." Yamamoto turned to the three other males and cast a parting wave. "We'll be going ahead, guys!"

He was leading her behind him, away from the ruckus and, most importantly, away from Hibari. Whether or not she had regret in her large doe eyes didn't matter to him.

_He just didn't want her to look at Hibari anymore._

* * *

"...I don't feel like fighting anymore," Hibari stated in monotone as soon as the pair left.

Ryohei and Gokudera put down their respective fists and dynamite and gaped at Hibari. Why did he suddenly not feel like fighting anymore? And right after Masami and Yamamoto left too. Gokudera got it immediately and_ 'tched'_ before stowing his dynamite back into his pockets. _The one the bastard wants to bludgeon with his tonfas isn't us, but the baseball freak... _He lit up a cigarette. _Annoying..._

Ryohei, being the sensitive guy he was, asked him outright.

"Hibari, did you stop fighting because Sakata left?" Ryohei demanded in a reasonably quiet voice. Cue Gokudera almost swallowing his cigarette whole. "You sure were looking at her a lot, so I think it was her?"

The silver-haired boy turned towards Ryohei and stared at him and then realized the boxer had no idea of the... _relationship _(whatever it was) between Masami and Hibari.

Gokudera decided then that he didn't want to deal with this. It would be perfectly fine if he just walked away while Hibari and Ryohei were busy trying to kill each other, more so the former was trying to do so while the latter thought they were having a friendly "manly" match.

Gokudera stuck another cigarette in his mouth and walked to the battle area too, blatantly ignoring the sounds of fighting and "EXTREME!'s behind him.

* * *

Masami and everyone stared disbelievingly at the scene before them.

_He managed to win in one attack... _she thought, astounded. The battle began the same as Yamamoto's. The women known as the Cervello had introduced the two sides that represented the Cloud and then the difficult battlefield they would both have to fight in. Then the fight had begun and...

_He managed to freaking win in one attack! _

"WOW! HIBARI IS REALLY EXTREME!" Ryohei cried out, pumping his bandaged hands in the air.

Gokudera turned away. "Tch, guess he isn't useless, after all."

Yamamoto kept silent, but if anyone were to look carefully, they would be able to see the imperceptible clenching of his jaw.

Hibari was smirking victoriously and it only widened when he turned to face the Varia boss. Masami paled considerably.

_Don't tell me that idiot is thinking of-_

"Hey," he began as he pointed a tonfa at Xanxus. "I can't go home until I've bitten the monkey king to death."

"Monkey king?" Levi screeched indignantly. "How dare you, you bratty bastard!"

"Hmm..." Xanxus hummed out and stood up slowly. His mouth suddenly curved into a maniacal grin and all Masami could do was worry for Hibari before the man jumped into the field.

* * *

Tsuna looked to the night sky, bright orange eyes reflecting the stars that shined above.

He and Basil had gone one on one again and there was now a small reprieve between them. His breath came in small pants and he could see Basil, who was a few feet from him, wasn't faring much better. The last one had been close. They were so close to perfecting the technique that he could taste it. Neither him being tired nor being close to completing the technique explained the feeling welling up in his chest. Maybe it was his hyper intuition.

Reborn would be so proud if he knew Tsuna was trying to explain the foreboding feeling he was having with **Vongola **stuff.

"Let's try it again," Tsuna muttered. He stood up. Basil looked at him, stunned, while Reborn was smirking at him.

"You worried about Hibari, Tsuna?" the baby questioned. "I thought you would believe in Dino when he said-"

"It isn't that." He _was _worried about Hibari, even with what Dino had told him, but he knew that the bad feeling whirling inside him wasn't because of his Cloud Guardian. It was... something else. He didn't know what though.

Basil stared between tutor and student and stood up silently. He reached into his pocket for his pills.

Reborn's only response to Tsuna's words was a cocked eyebrow and a transformed Leon-gun.

* * *

_"He'll be fine, he'll be fine, he'll be fine," Akane repeated out loud as she staunched the gaping wound in Rei's stomach. It was bleeding profusely and she wasn't sure, wasn't sure at all if she would be able to stop the bleeding before they got help. They had messed up badly, **very badly**, on the mission. The teenager turned towards the young girl and was shocked to find tears dribbling down pale, cherub cheeks. _

_"Stop crying!" Akane snapped. She had enough to worry about without a stupid girl crying like a fool. Hell, she was shocked Masami _was_ crying. This was actually the first time she had witnessed the little girl crying. Masami hadn't even cried when Rei or her had beaten her black and blue to train her or when she had been taken away from that facility. Akane doubted the caring Masami would cry if she was hurt like this. Not because she was inconsiderate, but because she just _**wasn't** _the type to cry. _

_So why now? Why now!_

_"Haa..." Rei breathed out. It sound strained. He tried to smile at Masami, but it turned out to be a grimace. "I'm fine."_

_"...But Rei..." Masami sniffed loudly._

_"...You're dying."_

* * *

The chaos began when Hibari was shot in the leg by a supposedly broken Gola Mosca. The robot approached the injured, scowling boy with an intent to kill. Its laser-studded fingers pointed straight at the prefect's head.

The lasers fired. An explosion resounded and smoke and dust rose up. Everyone blocked their eyes to avoid the debris from going into their eyes.

..._No, not yet. Please... no..._

"Hibari..." Masami whispered at first and then she was screaming his name loudly, repeating over and over again. The girl didn't realize she had tried to run to Hibari until she felt an arm around her waist, holding her back. Yamamoto was holding her back.

"Let me go, let me go!" Masami struggled in earnest and the three males stared at the hysterical girl, stunned.

"Pipe down, woman!" Gokudera growled. He didn't know how to deal with screaming females like this. He hadn't thought she would be the type to scream, but he guessed wrong.

"Masami, calm down," Yamamoto said in a comforting manner. His grip loosened slightly when he saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes as she struggled, but held on tight almost right after. Masami shook her head vehemently.

"Let me go now! I have to, I have to go and-"

"Hibari's alive!" Ryohei shouted and pointed to the cloud of smoke and dust.

The prefect was alive. He had barely dodged the laser attack, if the scorch marks on the fabric on his arm were anything to go on. Masami's eyes widened and she stopped trying to get out of Yamamoto's grasp. The Rain stared cautiously at the small girl before letting her go carefully.

_Hibari isn't dead... _Masami could feel a relieved smile on her face and didn't realize the tears were now flowing freely, making red twin tracks on her cheeks. Yamamoto saw and was the only one who could see.

"I should go to see if he's all right," Masami whispered and quickly made her way to Hibari.

"It's dangerous!" she heard Yamamoto call out and he would have ran after her if not for the gunfire the automatic machinery randomly unleashed on him, Gokudera and Ryohei. All three of them dodged and tumbled to the ground.

"FUCK!" Gokudera screamed, frustrated. By now, the battlefield was in smithereens. The fence at some parts had been torn off or completely melted by the Gola Mosca's lasers. There were also minefields being set off right and left, either by Gola Mosca or stupid people stupid stepping everywhere on the stupid ground!

"THIS IS SO **EXTREME!**" Ryohei exclaimed. He was finally getting a work out after his own battle!

Yamamoto and Gokudera stared at him, shocked. Yamamoto was the first to respond and laughed uneasily as he scanned the field for a pink-haired girl. He knew Masami wouldn't be as easily caught up in the mine fields, but he wasn't sure about those quick-firing machine guns...

"Haha... really, senpai...?"

Gokudera snarled at the lot of them.

"Shut up. Just shut the_ fuck_ up."

They were quick to dodge another round of bullets.

* * *

He was late! He was _so _late! Whoever knew his secret crush was going to kill him! He was going to practically die from embarrassment if anyone found out!

"Ahh!" he cried out in dismay as he dragged the lunky piece of metal behind him. He had been so tired and had taken an afternoon nap. Working on his project for the science fair was nothing to scoff about, after all. When he woke up, he only had found the note and according to it, only had 10 minutes before his _deepest_, **darkest** secret was found out!

"I'm laaaaateee!" the boy cried out again and almost collapsed from relief as he saw the Namimori Middle building ahead. His eyes squinted behind the frames.

Was that smoke?

* * *

Masami made it to Hibari easily enough. She tried to ignore the fact that she had to dodge all those gunshots and that the backlash from the minefields she had set off _hadn't _knocked her off her feet more than once. She crouched down immediately by his side. Hibari's eyes widened momentarily at her arrival. She noticed him clutching his arm. The skin must have been burned from the lasers.

"You..." Hibari started and was cut off by an explosion. Masami winced and reluctantly set her hands away from her ears.

"Are you okay?" she screamed over the loud noises. All Hibari did was stare at her and she huffed, irritated.

"Hibari!"

Instead of answering her, his hand moved to clutch her chin. She squeaked when she was forcibly pulled closer. Masami could feel her cheeks reddening as Hibari's blue-grey eyes examined her face closely. What the heck was he doing!

"...Were you crying?" Hibari demanded sharply. Masami stiffened. Her pink orbs became round and she reached up to her face, to her cheeks.

They were slightly wet with tears.

"...Was... I...?" she whispered, more to herself than the Cloud. Hibari's eyes narrowed and his mouth opened to speak...

...but Masami didn't have any time to hear what he said before a cloud of purple smoke enveloped her body.

* * *

Irie Shouichi paled when he realized he had hit the wrong person with the bazooka. He was supposed to hit a boy with spiky and brown hair. Said boy had appeared on the grounds out of nowhere. Irie decided to ignore the little fact of how exactly the boy had appeared on the property at lightning speed and the fact that there were a lot of explosions happening.

He was more worried that he only had about 10 seconds before the minute was over and he _certainly _did not want his secret crush to be found by people. It was way too embarrassing!

As a result of him rushing to Namimori Middle, his glasses had gone askew and coupled with the fact his accuracy skill were mediocre at best had resulted in... less than stellar results. He ended up missing his target by several feet and hitting a pretty, pink-haired girl instead.

Irie sighed tiredly and glanced at the crumpled note in his hand passively. Well, at least he didn't miss the deadline...?

...

He was trying to look on the bright side of things, all right?(!)

Irie blinked and took a second look at the piece of paper.

_09/10 at 9 o' clock_.

Wait, could it have been **October 9th **instead of **September 10th**? And now that he was looking at it better, was he supposed to shoot it at 9AM or 9PM?

...

...

Wasn't this kind of bad?

Irie frowned before throwing the piece of paper on the ground and stomping on it.

Who exactly was the idiot who wrote this vague note?

* * *

**End of Varia Arc**

* * *

**A/N: **Oh, Irie... Little do you know that the idiot is actually you. XD This was a difficult arc to write, so I'm glad that it is over, haha. (: I've been waiting to get to the Future Arc**. **I have a lot of stuff planned for Masami, the Shiris and the canon stuff, so I'm pretty excited!

I have been meaning to say this for the past... five chapters, but I kept forgetting.** Possession's storyline will not be exactly following the canon.** As you can see from the last three arcs, not everything has been followed right to the last detail and the Future Arc will likely be the same since the fic is dragging on longer than I thought it would and I don't think anyone wants Possession dragging on for 45+ chapters, including me. I'm planning to... cut some stuff like I did by skipping a lot of Varia battles. After a lot of thinking, I've decided to cut the Choice Battle ().

Lastly, I'll be doing some grammar and content edits for a while. I'm hoping to finish everything by the end of the weeek. (:

Thank you for reading and please review to tell me what you thought of the chapter! They fuel my passion to write. :D

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview:**

_"...Where is she?"  
"HII! Calm down, Hibari-san!"_

_**"Welcome, honey, to the Varia Headquarters!"**_

_"Let me tell you guys a story about Masami, okay? The same story I told Reborn."_

_**"Ushishi, you're a far cry from your future self. How disappointing."**_

_'...I want to become stronger."_

(Really, guys. I would really like if you guys read the (annoyingly long) author's note. :D)_  
_


	24. Fight

A/N: A new version of chapter 24 is up! Well,** mostly new**. Maybe 75%, though it feels more like 99% since it took a while for me to write it.

Nonetheless, I'd like to again thank MikaUchiha666, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, DarkRoadHina, Kichou, Squalohaifisch, Conanfan15, meikyuubutterfly458, Espeon960, hauarie, jadeismycolor, stuffedninja101, hiyomi, MiyukiNishio, Lithosphere, 100paperfans, omgpink, ChocolateRibbons, Senna-x3, Oluhasuu, PhoenixRage92, novellanite12, Sesshylover978, whitewhite, Night Neko-Jin, fuwacchi, Rainord-deechin, TheFeyRa, Mairelle, yerashi9921, SasoLOVE111, snowlemur26, 6Fortius9, rukia23 and Love Muffin of Doom for reviewing chapter 23.

A hearty thank you to DarkRoadHina, PhoenixRage92, chococake99, Lithosphere, hiyomi, MikaUchiha666, SasoLOVE111, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, MiyukiNishio, 666AnimeFan666, Mairelle, leogirl321, TheFeyRa, MidoriPoet, Miyusan, HyperCricket, Kouyan, darkguardian1021 and Oluhasuu for reviewing the **_old _**version of chapter 24.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 24: Fight**

"Soo, Sho-chan, are you done with that little doodad you were working on? That white thing you were talking about~?" Byakuran asked the screen, tone chipper. His eyes curved upwards in elation as Irie turned away from the screen. Ah, his friend couldn't meet his gaze, hm?

He supposed that was normal since the redhead was planning _–had– _already betrayed him.

"Yes, Byakuran-san," Irie answered curtly, his tone as cold as steel. "I've timed their arrivals so that they'll come in about two months."

Byakuran's eyes opened, his mouth pressed in a tight line. "Why not sooner?"

"It's the safest time frame for them to arrive."

"Safest~? I didn't think we would really care about the safety of our enemies."

Irie's response was poised, _prepared_. "For every _piece _of them to arrive. With their rings. Time travel is tricky. The flow of different time periods is different," he explained. "On top of that, the flow also fluctuates."

"Oh." Byakuran smiled. That made sense then. Wouldn't do any good for them to come without those precious rings. "For a moment, I thought you were worrying for the safety of the Vongolas."

His friend stiffened visibly. "T-that isn't what—w-why are you jumping to that conclusion!" His facade had cracked and the fluster was as clear on his face as the sun on a summer day.

Byakuran laughed. "No reason, no reason." His slim digit was already poised on the button to end the transmission. "It was just a joke, Sho-chan. No need to be so worried."

His friend relaxed so much that it made Byakuran chuckle again. "Byak—"

"Goodbye, Sho-chan!" he exclaimed before ending the video conference. Byakuran fell back on his chair. He could really use some sugar. Maybe more marshmallows.

"Hmm..." His fingers made a triangle as he propped his chin on the tips. Unlike the other alternate worlds, he had no idea what would happen now. A gentle smirk suddenly graced his features. This game would be interesting.

_I'll be waiting to see what you do, Sawada Tsunayoshi. _

* * *

"Irie-sama!" The Cervello rushed to her superior, who was staring at the black screen with surprise on his face.

Irie-sama!" she said again urgently. He finally addressed his underling with a tired frown.

"What is it?" Irie sighed out, running a hand through his tomato-red hair, exasperated. Byakuran always did this; make him bluster until he was sated and then ending the conversation right before he had a chance to say something.

Well, on the bright side, it looked like Byakuran believed his lie. The real reason he wasn't sending the core Vongola members from the past to this time was because he knew they were still in the middle of the Ring Battles. Two months for them wouldn't be ample time for Tsuna and co. to recover properly, but it was the best he could do without Byakuran getting too suspicious.

_Time... is running _out, Irie thought morbidly. They would have about a month before he would send his younger self another reminder to transport them to the past via bazooka.

Irie gulped. He hoped, honest to god, that everything would go smoothly.

* * *

Tsuna's temperament had gone from being as cold and calm as an ice cube to as panicked and scared as a deer caught in the headlights of a car. The effects of the bullet were gone. It was terrible timing considering his situation at the moment. The grip on his charred collars tightened. He garbled out some intelligible squawks, arms flailing like a frightened bird caught in the mouth of a lion; still struggling, but unable to escape.

"...where is she?" Hibari repeated.

More squawking was done. More than trying to give his Cloud an answer, Tsuna was just trying to _breathe._ His guardian wasn't getting the message and, if possible, the hold on the lapels pulled even harder than before. Tsuna was starting to feel kind of lightheaded... Fireworks danced at the corners of his darkening vision. His heart that had been going at the speed of a jackhammer was slowing down. He could see a light... Tsuna smiled blearily.

_A beautiful light... _he thought and decided to follow it.

"In the future," Reborn said. Hibari turned to the baby, grip loosening.

Then, "Snap out of it, you fool," before jumping up and smashing his tiny foot to his student's head. Hibari had released the fabric and Tsuna was thrown several feet by the force of the kick. He slid against the rough ground.

"Ughh..." Tsuna moaned out. His moans were ignored.

"...What?" Hibari folded his arms, an agitated frown on his face. Reborn smiled and the Cloud's fists squeezed his tonfas in annoyance.

"She got sent to the future after being hit by a bazooka." Reborn didn't explain any further. Hibari wasn't the type to care of the mechanics of something like time travel. If anything, he was going to ask—

"How do we get her back here?"

Ah, there we go.

"She should have come back here two minutes ago." If his watch on his little wrist wasn't wrong, seven minutes had already passed.

That wasn't the answer Hibari wanted.

"...Infant—" he started.

"Her future self isn't here," Tsuna remarked, as quiet as a tiny mouse. Everyone was still scattered around the field, recovering from the attack, but he couldn't see a flash of pink anywhere.

"Then she isn't here." Reborn shrugged. What else could he say? There was a possibility that the bazooka malfunctioned or—

Reborn shook his head. He didn't want to think of the alternative.

* * *

She had come in through here.

She had walked up these stairs.

She had infiltrated this control room.

She had used this computer to make a video call.

Then she was gone like a hushed whisper on the wind.

Yamamoto stopped in front of the huge screen in front of him. He kicked it once, then twice, just to make sure it was dead. He stared at it grimly. It was dead, all right. A super computer, it was called? He had never been one for technology. Among the guardians, it had been in Gokudera's field and even then, the silver-haired man was more into putting complex equations on paper rather than on file. He sighed.

Tsuna had wanted him to come here every day saying he had a_ feeling_ someone was going to be here.

_"That person probably won't even come." _Tsuna had smiled tiredly. The crease between his brows had come much too early for his young age.

_"But just in case. Just in case," _he had repeated.

How do I know when to stop coming?

_"When you won't know to do so anymore," _the Vongola had said cryptically. He had looked regretful then, but so very resigned at the same time.

The Sky had looked at the Rain seriously then.

_"Don't do anything irrevocable if they do come. Yamamoto."_

It had been months since that time and a lot had changed. The guardians were scattered now. He could only confirm three other guardians' whereabouts. He knew Ryohei was training recruits here in Italy and Gokudera and Lambo were in Japan taking care of the operations there. As for the Mist guardians, he knew that Chrome wasn't dead at the very least or else word would have gotten out that Rokudo Mukuro in Vendice was dead. As always, nobody had any word on Hibari. He hadn't even been at Tsuna's funeral.

It was like he had dropped off the face of the earth.

Yamamoto could feel bits of rage trickling into his jaded composure.

The last time he had seen the bastard was when—

He didn't let himself finish that sentence.

He turned on his heel. It was as silent as an abandoned cemetery here. He needed noise, something to distract himself. It wasn't quite time to meet at the rendezvous point with some Varia members, but it was better to start walking than just waiting here for somebody who wouldn't come.

He had one foot out the doorway before he heard a loud _POP _followed up by a _whoosh _of air.

He could feel his heart skip for a beat or two as he caught sight of the new arrival.

* * *

Yamamoto's fingers shook over the keyboard.

Not that he was bad at typing and was thus nervous. He actually took lessons from a computer typing program right before he entered middle school because teachers had been complaining about his horrid penmanship on his assignments. The blank message box was irritating. It was just waiting there to be filled with a message from him that would be sent to the rest of the Vongola Guardians through a private network. Well, it would be sent to their e-mails, at least. He wasn't too sure if all of them had access to a computer since he didn't know where some of them were.

He gulped.

...And now he was stalling.

It was more so that he was feeling apprehension. It took him a moment to realize why the emotion was going through her. He... he wanted to keep her a secret. Away from Hibari, who would undoubtedly try to come and find her simply to keep her safe. That was how important she was to him. She had always been the tether that kept Hibari connected to the Vongola; a stronger bond to the Family than a piece of metal that went on a finger. And then, she was suddenly gone and Hibari just up and left. And not his usual leaving either, the ones that had left her gazing out a window of the Vongola estate wistfully when she thought nobody was looking.

He had simply dropped all of his duties as a Guardian and left, with little way to contact him.

Yamamoto swiftly typed up a short message: _The Masami from 10 years ago is here._

_Possessiveness... _What a terrible and selfish feeling. The brief thought of not telling any of the Guardians sent a short stab of guilt. While letting Hibari know was somewhat questionable, he couldn't deny the others the right to knowing that Masami —even a younger Masami— was back. She had been important to _everyone_, not just him and Hibari.

He sent the message.

* * *

It was the series of crashing and sharp, deaf clangs of metal against metal that woke her up.

The pounding in Masami's head was the first thing on her mind though. She fidgeted from her resting position and found comfy, warm blankets on her and a pillow underneath her head. It felt nice... She snuggled further into the bed, digging her head into the pillow. It smelled weird. Not a bad kind of weird, just different. It smelled of the air after it rained and mint and something else that was, if she had to name it, spicy.

Eh?

Her eyes snapped open.

Her bed didn't smell like rain, mint and spiciness...

Masami looked around critically. It was a simple bedroom. There was a large desk with a chair at the corner. On the surface of the mahogany was a closed laptop. The windows were open and through the confusion in her head, she admitted to herself that the wind billowing the curtains felt nice. Now that she was awake, she could identify the fresh fragrance of trees and nature. Was there a forest near Hibari's house?

A trickle of sweat went down Masami's forehead.

This wasn't her bed.

This wasn't her room in Hibari's house.

_Aah... _Was it time to panic yet?

She clutched her chest, willing herself to calm down. Had she been kidnapped (again)? Maybe in the confusion of that robot attacking everywhere and everyone, she _had_ been kidnapped.

Her eyes shut. Thinking about this logically, any self-respecting kidnapper wouldn't give their victims a nice bedroom to sleep in, right? She paled at a thought. Unless they were one of those sly but polite kidnappers that were even scarier than crazed madmen. The calculative type always were.

She could feel herself becoming honest-to-god physically sick. Ugh... She could only think of one family she knew that fit that description and wanted her. The pieces were falling into place. Had the Shiris kidnapped her in the chaos? It was the perfect opening. After all, before she had left the hotel, Akane had said that she wouldn't be in town for a week because she had to_ "go do some shit that I won't tell you about." _

There was nobody to make sure she was safe.

She bit her lip in shame at the thought. Here she was relying on someone to protect her again...

_That's it. _Masami stood up. She noted that she was in a plain white t-shirt and very loose cargo pants that hung low on her hips. She tried to pull them up, but gravity did its job and they slid down her hips again. Well, it wasn't like they were terribly loose. The long shirt would protect her decency if it crept too low. She shook her head.

Escape first, get distracted later.

She crept to the open windows and peeked out. The distance from the ground to where she was wasn't that far. Unlike that time at the factory, she could jump this without getting hurt. A seed of suspicion started flowering in her. There were no mechanisms or precautions to keep her inside. It was as if they were inviting her to jump out of it. She frowned. Were they really underestimating her that much? On the flip side, they hadn't expected her to still be able to move so well, she supposed. To be functioning so well since her body—

There she went distracting herself again.

The familiar aches and pains seemed to come back. The headache she had paralleled with the ticklish sensation of the scars lining her back and torso. Her breaths were coming in short spurts and she felt so damn _cold_ all of a sudden on top of that. The chill seeped into her skin and straight into her bones like a sponge sucking up water. What was this feeling? (1)

Masami heard the door clicking open and she instantly went into Panic Mode.

Her foot, which had been propped up on the ledge of the window, propelled her forward to freedom.

"Masami?"

That voice sounded familiar.

Her foot slipped from the shock of realizing who it was. She wanted to turn around to confirm her guess, but was already falling out of the window to the forest floor.

"Masami!"

_Yamamoto._

* * *

"SHITTY KNIFE-WIELDING BASTARD!" Squalo screeched at the top of his lungs. And what magnificent lungs those were if he could yell that loudly.

He aimed a stab of his prosthetic sword at blondie's head, but the brat dodged at the last minute. He scowled and pressed on. A flurry of attacks were initiated, going so fast that it looked like he had more than one sword in his hand. And several hands, at that. It wasn't time to use his box animal, but Bel sure was testing him by smirking like that at him in such a condescending, _'I am so much better than you'_ way.

In other words, his usual shit-eating grin.

"Relax, Commander." Bel held out his hands, knives between his fingers like menacing claws, in a devil-may-care manner and shrugged. That only served to infuriate Squalo even more. The fucking brat should be on his knees begging for forgiveness for—

"I only cut a bit of your hair off, after all. It was a _complete accident_." His tone spoke otherwise though.

A tic was in Squalo's jaw now. Like hell it was a _complete accident_. That was as likely as Xanxus going off alcohol and pledging his undying loyalty to the Vongola family to do good Samaritan acts like the majority of the retarded morons at Vongola HQ.

_Neeever_ going to happen.

"Feh," he snorted out. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Not that he was one anyway.

Bel stepped back as he watched Squalo pull out his box animal. He scratched the back of his head with his fingers, expertly avoiding putting a hole in his hand and head with his knifes. He frowned.

"It was just hair..." The younger man was looking at his superior with something akin to pity and the thoughts of, _'How sad', _went through his head. All this because of ten strands of hair. He sighed and pulled out his own box. Normally, he would want a box fight, but seriously, his sugar levels were low right now. He was tired.

He had only eaten four slices of cake barely an hour ago.

"You. Will. **Pay**," Squalo stated slowly...**_murderously_. **

Bel made an annoyed grunt.

There was a pause as they surveyed one each other, trying to kill one another via cut eye.

...

A yell broke through the stifling atmosphere right before a girl fell from the sky, crashing upon Squalo. She had come from the window right above his superior's head. Bel blinked through his fringe. It was that girl that Yamamoto had found. What was her name again? He paused, ignoring how Squalo had shoved her off him and was now screaming at her, while she was looking quite bleary and confused.

_Hmm..._ After a few seconds, he gave up. It didn't matter to him. After all, he _was _a prince. He had no use for knowing the names of lowly peasants who didn't warrant any of his attention.

_"Ushishi..."_ He grinned. He counted this as a win, by the way. Varia didn't play by the rules, even if they (accidentally) cheated.

Chalk one up for the glorious Bel-sama.

* * *

"—FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM, YOU FUCKING DUMBASS?"

Huh.

Masami held her breath as the silver-haired man stopped to take a breather. She was still awestruck by Squalo of the Varia's appearance. She hadn't expected him at all. Her theory of being kidnapped by the Shiris had blown to bits and dust on the wind. She eyed him before relaxing only minutely, still hyper aware he could kill her if she did something that made him mad. She much preferred being kidnapped by the Varia than the Shiris though. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

Anything was better than being with those people again...

"AND ANOTHER THING—"

"Masami! You're okay!"

All three heads turned to see a young man standing at the edge of the doorway to the luxurious house, rubbing the back of his head. Her thoughts were still murky from the splitting headache she had. Squalo shouting at her certainly hadn't help (but at least he didn't get his sword and run her through). It was only when she saw the man grin widely and laugh that she remembered what happened just before she fell out of the window.

"Y-Yamamoto..." She paused. For some reason, he _was _older than her. Respect for her elders came to mind. "...san?" she added meekly.

The grin widened more, if that was even possible.

"Yep!"

* * *

Masami was surprised at herself for taking things into stride. Wouldn't it be more normal for her to freak out at the thought of being sent ten years into the future? All she felt was a cold calmness in her. Maybe it was because of the events during the past year that was hardening her to shocks that were thought to be impossible.

She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"...I see," Masami deadpanned when Yamamoto had explained everything about the rise of a practically unknown family by the name of Millefiore. Everything from how people fought now, the decimation of the Vongola family, the current Guardians (after he explained what Guardians were) to... Tsuna's death. It was a lot of information to take in and she felt a bit overwhelmed. Especially the last one.

Ten years from now, Tsuna would be dead...

One of her friends would be _dead_...

"..Hey, Masami."

"Hm?"

She looked up just in time to see Yamamoto put his ring into the opening of his box. A small click sounded and then there was a brilliant flash of blue light. She was awed at the beautiful display.

_So this was a box animal..._ The light dispersed. Lights danced in her vision like multi-coloured fireworks in the night sky and then she felt something land on her head.

"...Oh."

"Do you like it?" He shrugged, almost shyly. "You looked a little depressed after I told you about..." The man trailed off uncomfortably.

Masami pulled the bird off her head gently. She didn't have much (if any) experience holding birds but she guessed she was doing okay since it wasn't making a fuss. It was just looking at her with dark, beady eyes. Blue-coloured flames flickered on its body like prettier feathers every now and then but other than that, it looked like much like a normal bird. She smiled warmly, both at the cute bird and at Yamamoto's kindness. He was trying to cheer her up.

She laughed, oblivious to how the man sitting beside her on the ground was looking at her with an indecipherable expression.

_"Thank you."_

* * *

It had been a week since she had arrived from the past as hard as that was to believe.

Masami rested her cheek against her palm restlessly as she stared blankly through two certain Varia members fighting (again) from her seat on a large rock. And what a listless week it had been too. She had explored the area around the "base". It looked more like a small mansion to her, but Yamamoto referred to it as a base, so she guessed she would too. The man had always come with her on her walks and the two Varia members ignored her, so she guessed her experience was okay _so far_.

Yet... she couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach whenever her mind drifted to the fact that she was in the future. It had felt surreal at first, but after seeing that the future wasn't too different from the past, it had gotten a bit... boring? She had been expecting the Millefiore to attack them. Maybe jump out of the bushes? Fly out on top of the base on helicopters ready to kill them?

_Hm... _Masami blushed as she thought back to what happened a day ago. Yamamoto had laughed when she told him and said to her that the Millefiore wouldn't know where _they_ (as in him, Squalo and Bel. And she guessed her now too.) were because the base wasn't the Varia's headquarters. They were actually on a mission to attack the Millefiore before the Millefiore attacked them. He had also vaguely said that they had gotten a tip off that an invasion was being planned against the Varia and the three of them had been stationed there to stop it.

_"...Aha..." she hummed out weakly and thoroughly embarrassed. Now that she thought of it, her theories were a bit ridiculous.__ Yamamoto was still trying to contain his laughter even after five minutes of a combination between laughing and chuckling. He was mollified when she gave him a glare that could make a penguin cold. He straightened up, but had a smile on his face._

_"So, who was the one that told you about the invasion?" It was a question born from curiosity. She didn't think that the Vongola had an anonymous tip line for anyone who had information about incoming Millefiore attacks, so she was guessing the person who had told them was acquainted with the Vongola._

_ "Hmm..." Yamamoto's smile changed, a minute slipping of facial muscles. She knew there was something wrong but couldn't pinpoint what it was that was making her anxious._

_ All he said was, "An amazing person," and that was that._

"Yo."

Masami started when she saw a face appear right in front of her, uncomfortably close. She schooched back. The sun reflecting from his perfect, white teeth was blinding her. She could see Squalo behind them, watching them with disinterest. She could feel her palms becoming sweaty. Yamamoto was off to scout. They took turns and it just happened that she had been outside at the same time they had been sparring. But why were they talking to her now? They normally ignored her.

_...Ookay..._

"Fight me," Bel said with a grin on his face. He jabbed a thumb in Squalo's direction. "He's too boring."

"Fuck you," said boring person grumbled half-heartedly, but privately agreed. Knowing someone for years tended to make their fighting style predictable. He glanced at the girl and saw that she was biting her lip at the demand.

_Heh. _He sneered. Was she scared? He wouldn't be surprised since the Varia usually made people pee their pants by just mentioning the name of the assassination group.

"...Fine." She pulled out the dagger at her side from its sheath and hopped down off the rock. Hands in his pocket and looking too fucking pleased with himself, Bel followed her as they made their way to the clearing where a spar (which had been more like an all-out brawl) had taken place.

Then they began.

* * *

"You suck shit."

Masami flinched from the harsh words. It had barely been two minutes before Bel had completely _annihilated _her. Now she was on her back on the dirt ground, trying to catch her breath. What confidence in her abilities shattered like the glass of a broken mirror. There hadn't been any flames used either.

"I'm going to go in," Bel said lazily. He had to clean the blood of his knives. He didn't do anything detrimental to her health if she was treated fast. Just a few cuts here and there. Or a lot. It depended on whether you thought the 78 shallow cuts he made counted as '_a lot_'. He walked to the door with his hands behind his head, a bored look on his face. It had been done way too fast.

"You _really _suck shit," Squalo intoned again before making his way back to the base.

Her fists clenched.

Dammit...

She hadn't even been considered as an opponent...

She swallowed the thick lump in her throat. It was true. She was too weak to really be of help to anyone. Just like before. Just like when Rei had died. She hadn't been strong enough for Rei not to worry about her and she wasn't independent enough so that Akane didn't have to check up on her and get derailed from her own life.

"Squalo, Bel..."

_Please..._

"Train me."

The two stopped.

"_Uhishi..._ Fine."

Squalo and Masami were both shocked that it was Bel who had said that. At least until he opened his mouth again.

"...I'll fight. The Commander can do the hard stuff, like explaining."

A silence that stretched on dangerously. She held her breath.

"WHAT DID YOU SAAAY?"

* * *

Surprisingly, Squalo hadn't been hard to persuade. In fact, he seemed kind of determined to make her stronger. Or maybe she was being too presumptuous in thinking that, seeing as how she couldn't think of any reason why he would want her to be stronger.

Hmm, maybe he was just _that _bored, but didn't voice it out as loud as Bel.

"Voi!" he called out to pull her out of the reverie she was in. "You already heard about the boxes and flames, right?"

Masami nodded. Excitement welled up in her at the prospect of having her own box. Would it a be a cute bird like Yamamoto's or maybe a dog or a pony or—

"You can't use it," Squalo said with a face as straight as the edge of a ruler.

"B-but..." Her face fell.

Bel snickered under his breath at the comical expression.

"You _can't _use it," the man repeated. He waved his sword hand carelessly in her general direction. She was a little surprised that he could talk in a voice of normal volume. So far, the only volumes she thought Squalo had was loud and louder. "You tried when the boxes first came out. The animal almost died."

_Huh? _Did she attack it or something?

"You're an experiment of the Shiris," he continued drolly. He was completely apathetic and reminded her of a solemn doctor that was giving a cancer patient their diagnosis. Well, wasn't that nice? "Whatever those psychos did to your flames made it a combination of the Rain and Storm flame. Polar opposites. That's why you're still alive, right?"

The question was rhetorical and she knew in that instant that he already knew about her... condition. Her hands clenched around the cloth of her pants. If someone like Squalo knew, then... how many other people knew?

_Her original flame had been... of the Rain._

Masami had learned from Rei that everyone had was born with a unique energy signature— she should start calling it flame instead of energy. Most of the time, these flames would go untapped, but there were instances where it artificially occurred like in her case or naturally occurred like in the Vongola family's case.

She had been part of the second round of a massive project where the kids were experimented on. The scientists had wanted to artificially add a second flame into their bodies. She had been part of the group that were to have Storm flames unnaturally added into them, by means that Masami still didn't understand to this day. She had been the only child in that group with her original flame as Rain. The Storm flame had ravaged their bodies and—

The flame of destruction and the flame of pacification... What a combination they made.

—Let's just say she was lucky to have Rain flames.

Squalo huffed. He was on the precipice between, 'mildly annoyed' to 'full-blown pissed.' The girl wasn't even paying attention to him!

"Your flame is like _poison_," he finished seriously.

* * *

Yamamoto had been introduced to an interesting sight as soon as he got back.

"Squalo..." He ambled to the man's side. He had crossed his arms and was _'tch-ing'_ a lot whenever Masami ran away from Bel's knives, which was happening quite a lot.

"DON'T MOVE AROUND ON YOUR FUCKING TOES! YOU'LL TRIP AGAIN!" Squalo bellowed out when Masami tripped on nothing and miraculously dodged knives aimed at her back because of the fall. She flew back up immediately and ran, knowing that Bel wouldn't give any reprieve. She was correct in her assumption. Right where she had been lying down were replaced by knives in a nanosecond.

"...Squalo."

"What?" the silver-haired man snapped. His eyes flitted around the 'battlefield' to follow the pair. She was moving faster, but not fast enough. With her shitty endurance and the fact that she couldn't use her _severely _impure flames for too long was a combination that spelled, _'SCREWED', _for anyone on the battlefield in this era. They had to up her speed, reflexes and abilities with the blade in her hand.

_Fucking hell!_

"ARE YOU STUPID?" Squalo watched as Masami was nicked on the cheek by something she could have _easily _dodged. Maybe it was because she was getting tired, but Squalo wasn't known for his patience.

"...What are you doing?"

"Training her..." in a tone that suggested he thought Yamamoto was absolutely stupid in the head.

"Uhm... I meant _why _you were training her." He gazed worriedly at the scene. The itch to step in was overpowering, but he stopped himself.

Because there was a determination in her eyes that he didn't want to disappear.

"Because she's weak and she wanted to become stronger," the other man simply said, as if that explained everything.

And strangely for Yamamoto, it did.

A cry of happiness made Squalo and him look up. She had cut the fabric of a scowling Bel's sleeve-her first hit. He felt his heart warm as she teased the murderous-looking blond.

She had been and would always be like this.

* * *

"Tired..." Masami moaned as she flopped on the bed in just her underwear and a long dress shirt that belonged to Yamamoto. Every muscle and joint in her body ached. There were even parts that she didn't know could ache that were throbbing painfully.

She had been moved to the guest room of the house—she was reluctant to call it a base now that she knew there was a guest room. It was pretty much the same as the bedroom she had woken up in, except a little smaller.

She smiled happily, resembling a sunbathing cat in how much happiness was radiating from her. She had fought Bel through the course of the day. They had to stop sometimes when she got tired, but other than that, she was pretty satisfied.

It felt much better than doing nothing.

* * *

_Everything was burning, burning, burning._

_Masami stepped back as the licks of hellfire came closer. Her face burned from the heat and tears flowed down her cheeks as smoke and soot got into her eyes. The black smoke was so thick that she might as well have been blind for all her sight did for her. She covered her mouth and nose with her shirt, eyes still watering. Her grip on the dagger's hilt tightened. _

How? How did this happen?

_After Rei's injury from the mission before, a mess up like this _**shouldn't **_have happened. They had been so careful, more careful than other missions after that little mishap. Rei had even come up with a plan B, C and D in case A didn't work. Masami stepped back from the invading fire approaching her from the front to the crumbling wall behind her. Being burned alive wasn't on her top of to-do's._

_None of them would have guessed that the building would catch fire. _

_If she had been in the right state of mind and not in this situation, Masami would have thought about the circumstances and reason for the fire a little more, but-_

_She coughed loudly into her shirt, the stink of smoke lingered in her nose._

_"Masami!" _

_A voice to her left._

_Immediate relief. That was what she felt surging through her as she spotted Rei standing at the doorway across the room with Akane in tow. She must have been -_was- _too hasty. Relief and desire to get to Rei and Akane clouded her judgement. Masami took a running start, at first wary of the hot fires, but then going into a full sprint. _

_"SHIT!"_

_"MASAMI!"_

_She heard a creak, loud enough to drown out the violent hiss of the roaring fire and Rei and Akane's yells._

_The sound of a displacement of air._

_Then everything went black._

* * *

He didn't know what made him stop at her door and open it. But he didn't regret it at all when he saw her. It was three in the morning, so she was predictably sleeping. She had kicked off the sheets, so he could see that she was wearing his dress shirt that he had given to her. The buttons were so sloppily done up that the first two had popped open, giving him an uncomfortable eyeful of the smooth, white skin of her collar bone. Her wavy hair was splayed around her in a messy imitation of a halo and-

—there was a grimace of absolute _pain _on her face.

"Masami..." He made his way to her side quickly. He put his hand on her cheek. He could feel and see the cold sweat on her skin.

She was having a nightmare...

He almost jerked back when her hand unexpectedly rested on his larger one. He froze. He could feel the calluses on the palms of her hand as she sleepily intertwined her fingers in his own. She pulled his entire arm with impressive strength towards her body to rest between her breasts, like she was hugging a teddy bear instead of his arm. He was now forced to lean over her, his shadow blocking the moonlight from the open windows.

A million thoughts were running through his head as he watched her mouth incoherent mutterings, but one stood out. He watched her features relax into a small smile.

_...What would it be like to kiss her?_

The room suddenly felt too small and the suit on him was leaving him baking. The erratic pace of his heartbeat juxtaposed the slow beats of the organ beating against his arm. He leaned down even more until his mouth was a scant inch her hers. She had fallen silent again and was quietly breathing now. His free limb supported him as he took in her features. His eyes focused on her soft, pink lips.

_"...Hibari."_

The dream shattered.

He backed away with a heavy silence and quietly left the room. He was calming down again thankfully. His mind whirred as he made his way to his own bedroom.

Yamamoto ran a hand through his hair.

What had he been thinking?

"Dammit..." he groaned out, exasperated at himself. He couldn't take advantage of her. It wouldn't be right to do so. He had already lost the fight a long while ago. It wouldn't be fair to her or Hibari.

His eyes narrowed in self-hate as he remembered when she was 17. The distance between them started there when she rejected him. Sure they tried to get into the groove of being friends again, but there was always this touch of awkwardness in their words and actions. He had been happy for her, because she had been happy with Hibari, but still, the gap between them only became bigger with time. That hadn't been anyone's fault. They had both tried so hard.

He opened the door to his room and stepped in.

...it didn't work. He regretted not properly rekindling their friendship to when they were in middle school. He had taken a long mission to think some things through. By the end of it, he had been optimistic they could become good friends again, just like the old times. But when he came back—

She was gone.

* * *

The _pen _in his hand broke in his tight grasp and black ink splattered all over the papers on his desk. He didn't care for the fact that his hand was now stained black, nor how he would have to get his subordinate to retrieve new documents.

Instead, his complete focus was on the screen and the unexpected, unplanned message he had received. The e-mail was dated from a week ago and he silently cursed under his breath.

_'The younger Masami is here.'_

Hibari's eyes narrowed.

This hadn't been part of the plan.

* * *

He hadn't checked his e-mail in while, having been forced into Squalo's campaign of, '_MAKE THE GIRL STRONGER, VOII!' _She was getting stronger though. Bit by bit, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Heck, she was going fast enough that he wouldn't be surprised if she was ready to help them in the invasion coming up in a few months.

Yamamoto's eyes widened when he read the message that outshone the other excited emails he had gotten from Gokudera, Lambo and Ryohei.

It was from Hibari.

_'Bring her to Namimori in a month and a half.'_

That was it.

He looked at the date the email was sent. Two weeks ago.

Then, a month from now...

He had no idea what Hibari's goals were, but he knew it was important if _the _Hibari Kyoya was asking someone, let alone him, for a favour. He got up from his chair and turned the laptop off. He was going to go and tell Squalo first and then Masami. Hopefully, the former wouldn't shout _too _loudly.

He was definitely not going to be helping with fending off the invasion.

* * *

**A/N:** Seasons Greetings! Hope everyone's enjoying the holidays.

Normally, I wouldn't repost a chapter, but I thought it was appropriate. The plot is pretty much the same in this chapter for the "new" parts, but they _are _newly written. I was really unsatisfied with the last chapter and was moaning and groaning about it to myself for months because I was torn between writing the chapter again and just going to the next chapter. Now that I look back, I am unsatisfied with a bunch of stuff in the story.

My confidence for this story is low right now, which is the real, real reason why this "update" took so long. Nonetheless, I will finish, kora! xD

Anyway, though about a quarter of this chapter is exactly the same as the old version, I'm interested in what people think of the new parts, so a review would be fantastic.

Thanks for reading~


	25. Lovers

**A/N:** Just in case people didn't see this for some reason... thanks to DarkRoadHina, PhoenixRage92, chococake99, Lithosphere, hiyomi, MikaUchiha666, SasoLOVE111, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, MiyukiNishio, 666AnimeFan666, Mairelle, leogirl321, TheFeyRa, MidoriPoet, Miyusan, HyperCricket, Kouyan, darkguardian1021, Oluhasuu and April Marciano for the reviewing!

Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading.

* * *

**Possession**  
**Chapter 25: Lovers**

"I think that I've gotten a lot stronger!" Masami declared almost arrogantly.

"You have." Yamamoto laughed and patted her head. She could feel her insides warm at the small gesture. Up until now, he had seemed almost distant. She had confronted him before, but had never found out the answer why. Yamamoto and his surprisingly good avoiding skills had been too much for her.

_Oh, well! _she thought as the man continued to pat her head. It was a gesture that would have annoyed her any other time.

"Maybe the size of _this_," Bel admitted while holding the pad of his thumb and index together until there was space the size of the head of a pin between them.

"You're still weak," Squalo added. "Which means you were _shitty _weak before."

Hmph. Masami felt an angry tic in her jaw. She forced herself to calm down. This was supposed to be a fairly happy time. Yamamoto and herself were leaving for Namimori because of something _'that was **really** important_', as Yamamoto had told her and it had only been enforced by the pleading look on his face for her to come with him.

"Anyway, since I may not see you guys again," Masami began. She stepped forward and smiled warmly before bowing. "I want to thank you for the help, Bel and Squalo."

"..."

"..."

She was starting to sweat. Why weren't they answering?

"Tch," Bel scoffed before turning back to the luxurious base.

"Don't die," Squalo grumbled.

"Come on, guys," Yamamoto piped in. "I know you don't want to seem like you care, but something more heartfelt would be appropriate, ne?"

Bel stiffened for a single, definite moment, but he didn't answer. Just kept on walking...

Squalo pinned the other swordsman with a hate-filled glare. "_You _go die."

Masami's mouth opened into a small 'o' before she felt herself laughing at their response.

* * *

**Namimori**

"Oh, Namimori, how I missed you," Masami sang out cheerily when they had stepped out of the taxi near an alleyway in a nondescript neighbourhood. The driver had been looking at them strangely because of the sunglasses and caps they were wearing while it was _night_, but it couldn't be helped.

The eyes of the Millefiore were everywhere.

"Let's go," Yamamoto said. He took off his sunglasses and smiled at the girl with him. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she smiled back. As beautiful as what little of Italy she had seen while at the base and going to the airport, she was still giddy that she was back home.

She blinked, but not because the man with her was using his flames to open an invisible passage in the ground of the alley.

When had she started thinking of Namimori as _'home__'_?

"Come on, Masami," Yamamoto's voice coaxed. "I'll catch you." He had already jumped down into the hole, while she stood there staring dumbly.

"O-oh. Coming!" It was insanely bright in the hole. Masami squinted. She could see the dark outline of arms outstretched to catch her. His outline looked kind of small from here. Maybe she could use the ladder instead...

"Hurry up, idiot!" a squeaky voice exclaimed.

_...Ah. _That voice. It was nostalgic to hear it. It felt like she hadn't heard it for a long, long time.

Shutting her eyes and wishing for the best, Masami jumped. In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have closed her eyes while jumping into a hole in a ground, but as per Yamamoto's promise, he caught her. She silently thanked him with a smile and stood up by herself as he let her go. Masami's eyes were only on the small baby smiling up at her.

Her voice cracked as she uttered a soft, "Reborn..."

Reborn's smile widened.

"Welcome to the Vongola family's underground base, Masami."

* * *

Yamamoto had gone out after the Vongola's head engineer, Giannini, had whispered with him and Reborn, who was clad in a ridiculous costume that supposedly protected him from anti-Trinisette waves in the air that were like poison to him. She had suspected he just liked wearing silly outfits. Masami had been purposely left out after Reborn used his favourite threat of shooting her if she tried to eavesdrop. So she had just stood there while Yamamoto speedily left the base with a concerned frown.

"...Reborn-san." She stopped walking. Reborn, who had been touring her around the base, turned. A questioning glance was all she needed as permission to voice her question.

"If _you're_ here ten years into the future, then..." She had been thinking about this ever since they started the tour. "Does that mean the others are here too?"

"No... Not yet, at least," he admitted. "Oh, and it isn't ten years into the future, but exactly nine years and ten months as of now."

"Nine years and ten months..."

First, she had been sent two months before and then Reborn was sent? It didn't make sense. And on top of that, they weren't sent exactly ten years, but just two months short of that... Either the bazooka was malfunctioning badly or there was something else going on. Suppose that everyone was being sent _now_, then it would make sense that there was _something _going on. Well, except for the out-of-place fact that she had been sent much earlier than everyone else.

If she hadn't been sent two months earlier, then Masami would be thinking that there was some kind of conspiracy taking place.

Ugh, her head was hurting again.

"You think something's going on too."

Masami looked down to see Reborn staring at her seriously. She hesitantly nodded and a smirk appeared. Without a word, he leapt up to an astounding height onto her shoulder and tugged her hair. Not extremely hard, but almost playfully, like he was playing with a doll.

_I mean an action figure_, she thought dryly. There would be a snowball's chance in hell before she saw Reborn playing with a doll. The most "playing" she had seen him do was with Leon (who actually resembled a plushie rather than a doll or action figure). And that was only when he was threatening/harming his student.

"Don't tell the others. At least until it's been confirmed and we know everything."

"It is like you're already expecting them, Reborn-san... Is that why Yamamoto left?"

"I am... Just call it a feeling." He shook his head. "No, he's picking up an agent from an organization called the CEDEF that's helping the Vongola with the fight right now."

They had stopped in front of a high-tech looking...portal? It looked like the type of things from a sci-fi movie that people had to use an eye scanner, a hand scanner and a thumbprint scanner to deactivate. Beyond, she could see traditional Japanese decorum and shoji panels that substituted for walls.

"This is the end of the tour," Reborn declared.

"Huh?" Masami pointed to the hallway that was obviously there. "What about here?"

"Oh." He sounded as if he just remembered said hallway was there. "That's not really part of the Vongola base, but I suppose we should go in there since you'll be staying there if my gut feeling is right." He hopped off her shoulder and pulled out a walkie-talkie from... Well, she had no idea where it came from the skin-tight suit he was wearing.

"Hey, Giannini," he spoke into the radio. "Could you turn off the security on one of the entrances?" A pause. "Yeah, that one. No, I'm sure he won't be mad." Masami heard frantic shouting from the walkie-talkie, but couldn't make out the words. Who was this _'him'_ that would make Giannini scared? Not that the engineer seemed like the bravest person in the world, but still. She cringed when she saw Reborn's temperament darken.

**"Just deactivate it."**

The hazy green that had been blinding her immediately disappeared.

"...You're good at this threatening thing..." Masami said. She felt a little sorry for Giannini on being the receiving end of _that_.

"Of course. I _am _the greatest hitman in the world." He tipped his hat to hide his pleased smile.

He led her down the halls with a nonchalant air about him, despite the creepy atmosphere. Masami shivered. It wasn't only starting to get cold and dark, but it felt like this place hadn't been used in a long time. The air around her felt stale.

It felt abandoned.

"Here we are." He had led her to a room. She coughed as dust entered her mouth. And like the rest of this side of the base, she could obviously tell that this room hadn't been used for a while either.

"Where are we?" Masami asked as she groped around the walls for a light switch. Being Reborn, he found the switch before stubbing his toe on a _stupid _set of drawers. Her eyes squeezed shut as the lights flickered open. She rubbed her eyes and stood up, purposely putting her weight off her sore toe.

"Your new bedroom."

"Hm." She swiped a finger on the drawers near her. Other than plethora of dust, it was a nice bedroom. It was simple, which she liked. There was a queen size bed at the corner and straight across from it was a bathroom. A desk was beside the bathroom and there were a set of drawers and a closet. On a whim, she silently pulled open one of the drawers.

"...Reborn-san."

"Yes?"

Masami pulled out a black, silk kimono and took a closer look at it. Upon inspecting it closer to confirm what she was suspecting, she dropped the clothing like it could give her the black plague.

"W-why are t-there m-m-m-" This was supposed to be _her _room?

"Spit it out."

"...men's clothes!" she croaked out. Why were there men's clothes in a room that Reborn said was hers?

"Weeell," he spoke slowly just to make sure she understood. Masami seemed kind of slow right now. Slower than Tsuna from the way her mouth was opening and closing as she tried to get more words out.

"When a man and a woman _really _like each other and do a few things with each other, they decide to live together." He shrugged. "That's just the way it goes, I suppose." Was she really naive enough to think that she wouldn't have a relationship with anyone by now? Or to be specific, Hibari. He had no idea how long it took, but the Cloud Guardian had finally gotten her. That was what he heard from the older Gokudera, anyway, when the silver-haired man had been briefing him.

"Don't patronise me," Masami quipped sharply before closing the drawers roughly. Denial was written all over her face, despite what he had just told her. Reborn sighed heavily as she went into the bathroom to see what it looked like.

Hibari must have been_ really_ determined to get her.

* * *

Masami flopped on the soft bed.

She had been left alone earlier by Reborn after Giannini had contacted him with the walkie-talkie. She had wanted to go with him when she saw him frantic. Well, as frantic as he could get. Reborn briskly gave her instructions to acquaint her with this area of the base and left before she could get a word in edge-wise.

Masami frowned.

He had also known she would try to follow him and had gotten Giannini to activate the force field again before she could get out.

Masami sat up to admire her handiwork. She had cleaned the room after exploring the rest of the creepy place. Not that the room was particularly dirty. Everything was in its proper place and there wasn't anything like mold growing in the bathroom. It was just that there was so much dust in here that she had a compelling urge to clean it, to freshen up the sad room a bit.

Masami snuggled into the sheets. After she had aired them out in the hall, they were officially dust-free and comfortable to lie in.

Now that she had nothing to do, her mind wandered to what lay in the drawers of the room. She shivered and tucked her underneath the sheets, but she still felt a chill. Like Reborn had said, she couldn't deny that she had... a close relationship with a man because along with the dark kimonos in the drawers and expensive suits hanging in the closet were well-made but plain women's' kimonos and flowing skirts and dresses that she would love if she had the opportunity to buy them.

Masami's eyes fluttered to a close. Between the jet lag, worrying about how the main headquarters had been destroyed (she had heard from Yamamoto), Tsuna's funeral that was only _just _taking place in three days because that was the only time that most of the Guardians could make it **_and_ **having a familiar face from ten years before greet her, she was just plain tired.

No, she couldn't deny that she was in an intimate relationship with a man.

Masami's breaths slowed as she fell asleep.

But until someone shoved it right into her face, she could deny that she was in an intimate relationship with a certain young man with striking but beautiful silvery-blue eyes and dark raven hair.

* * *

As per his orders, Kusakabe didn't go into his room, but Hibari stiffened anyway. Unlike the rest of his side of the base, the room didn't feel _empty. _He searched around the room until his attention landed on the bed to a lump underneath the covers. A sound of disgruntlement escaped him when he saw _her _under the covers. No wonder the baby hadn't told him where she was.

Murderous wasn't enough of a word to describe how he felt right now.

Hibari frowned. She really was defenseless. Until barely an hour ago, this whole area had none of its security activated. She could have been kidnapped and no one would have realized. He watched her continue to sleep, dead to the chaos that was happening on the other side of the base. She looked like a small doll... His hands clenched into tights fists as he shook his mind free of any wayward thoughts.

He shouldn't be seeing her.

"Mmm..." she moaned out, pulling Hibari from his thoughts. He was caught off-guard and watched as her eyes opened. There was a five second lapse before she focused on him.

"...Hibari."

Masami sat up and rubbed her eyes, just in case the darn things were deceiving her. But no. There was the ten years later Hibari right in the flesh looking down at her with an unfathomable expression. She bit her lip. She really couldn't deny it anymore, could she? Not when Hibari Kyoya was right in front of her while she had been sleeping in a bedroom meant for two.

Still, it was awkward, but Masami was kind of impressed she was calm instead of freaking out. She hadn't expected herself to fall in love with _Hibari _of all people.

_Maybe you're not freaking out _because _you aren't actually all that surprised, _her subconscious said.

Oh, be quiet, you.

Masami tried to work up a smile, no matter how awkward, but he turned before she could do so.

"Go back to the other side of the base," he said with his back turned. He was making his way out of the room.

Her eyes widened. He was... he was kicking her out?

"Hibari!" Masami kicked off the sheets and practically sprinted to him. She pulled on his arm to stop him from leaving. He did stop, but she didn't expect him to flip her around and slam her into the short drawers near them. Her back arched awkwardly as he pushed her down until she was half-lying on the surface of the drawers. She gasped as the vice-grip around her forearms tightened. But the harsh glare directed at her made her stop breathing.

"Go. **Back**."

...

"I'm..." Masami looked away shyly. Ugh, she was about to say some really embarrassing things. "I'm immature in a lot of ways, but I'm not immature enough not to see what's right in front of me. Seeing as how we're very likely to be together and you're ordering me away must mean..." His grip loosened, maybe unconsciously. She didn't know.

"...there must be a reason you're pushing me away, right?"

Hibari didn't say a word, merely stared at her and she couldn't read him at all. It was five minutes in that she lost her nerve and was about to open her mouth to take back was she said. Then he smirked in an appreciative way that made her heart skip a beat.

And then he kissed her.

Everything —her body, her brain, her blood— froze as she felt his pliable lips kiss her hungrily. His tongue swept over her full, bottom lip, while he pressed up closer to her, until she could feel his hard chest against her soft torso. Her brain, previously mush, was now going haywire. They —well, she— had been talking and then she had accused him of something and then... And then what? Him biting the flesh of her bottom lip was distracting. Whether it was a good or bad distraction was up for debate. It wasn't painful, but... would it be strange to call the action sensual? She unconsciously let out a moan as she felt his hand go under her shirt to land on the smooth expanse of the small of her back, while his other hand had twisted into her long hair to prevent her from moving away. Her eyes fluttered close as she felt his tongue enter her mouth to do... she could feel her skin grow hot as he did _interesting _things with his tongue. Her only other kiss —ironically with the same man— hadn't been anything like this.

And just as suddenly as he initiated the kiss, he stopped and pulled away.

Masami's limbs felt like they had been turned to jelly. She fell to the ground, panting hard.

She was reacquainting herself to the fact that Hibari Kyoya didn't do things half-assed in _anything_. That much was being proven by how her lips were tingling from that passionate... _action_. She couldn't even make herself say the words in her head...

"I changed my mind," he said in monotone. Masami knew she should look up, but she couldn't. Much too embarrassing. But if she had, she would have seen the possessive way Hibari was looking down at her small frame.

She felt her face heat up with a blush as she felt her chin being lifted up by long, callused fingers.

"If you can handle that small display of my affections..." He ignored her small squeak of, _"**T-that **was small?"_

"...Then you can stay."

He smirked and Masami was brought back to what had happened a few moments ago. If _that _was small, then what would his other '_displays of affection' _be like? She had... she had _moaned _too and had just let him do... do _that_.

She bit her bruised lips. He was waiting for an answer, but she could tell he wasn't pressuring her to say, _'yes'_. How unexpectedly kind of him... Her mind was screaming at her to leave while she still had the chance, but then she looked into his eyes. She saw something in them that had made her stop him from leaving the room in the first place. She placed her hand against his cheek.

It felt cold.

Against her better judgment, she pulled herself up to look at him straight in the eye before whispering a small, "_I'll stay._"

* * *

And at the same time this was occurring, a certain busybody baby was asking a question that needed to be answered.

"Why did Hibari want Masami here?"

Kusakabe cringed at the incredibly awkward question. The Arcobaleno, Reborn, was staring up at him inquisitively. The man shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't expected the Arcobaleno to just walk all the way to Hibari's side of the base to find him and ask. He sighed inwardly at that thought. No, maybe he should have. Reborn could be incredibly nosy at times.

"He wanted to keep her close to keep her safe," Kusakabe finally answered. At least, that's what _he _was thinking. Who knows what went on in the mind of the chairman when it came to Masami.

"Hmm... you would think that he wouldn't want to see her after what happened. Or to be more accurate, would _force _himself not to see her..." he trailed off at Kusakabe's horrified face. "Yes, yes. I know what happened. The Gokudera from this time told me the general idea of what happened." Reborn smirked. "Which is why I left Masami in Hibari's room."

"Hm, I suppose Gokudera-san would know a bit of what happ-You did WHAT?"

Reborn, bored now, proceeded to walk back to the other side of the base.

"Reborn-san, please wait a moment!" Kusakabe exclaimed. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Eeh..." The baby shrugged. "I was bored. Had nothing to do. Whether he can resist the allure of Masami in his bed or not is interesting to find out. I think they're talking right now, right?" Kusakabe's frown was enough of an answer.

"...Why are you making it sound so... so... suggestive?" If he was following their conversation right, weren't they talking about Masami staying with his boss?

"What _ever _could you be talking about?" Reborn smiled. "I'm just an innocent baby that has no filthy innuendos in my innocent mind. I don't know about you though."

...Kusakabe looked incredibly pained, but did not say a word. There was no point in talking back to the Arcobaleno when it came to stuff like this.

* * *

Masami meekly followed Hibari to where he had been going to before she had grabbed him. He was going to be Tsuna's tutor. She laughed inwardly at the thought. When the word, 'tutor', came to her mind, she thought of a kind, understanding teacher that would gently guide their student to better themselves. But now that she thought of it... Reborn was _none _of those and still got the job done with Tsuna. With that logic, she guessed that meant that Hibari could be an incredibly awesome tutor.

Yeah. Right. They would see once this session went underway.

...Masami knew that all this gibberish in her head was just to distract her from something she did not want to think about. She gazed at Hibari's back with worry. Although she wouldn't admit it to _anyone_ even under the threat of torture, she had _wanted _to stay with him. Perhaps what she saw in his eyes was what had convinced her. It was an emotion that just didn't suit Hibari at all that she could have imagined it for all she knew.

Regret.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought.

* * *

**Does Squalo like Masami?**  
Nada on that LOL. It may have seemed like that in the old version of chapter 24, but I revised it. Hopefully, that means it doesn't look like that anymore. xD

**In the sequel, would you continue from the manga or would it have its own plot?**  
If I did do a sequel, it would most likely have its own plot! I can't be too sure though, haha.

**Has Possession ended?**  
It is a no on that. I was just asking if anyone wanted a sequel waaay ahead of time. (;


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